


Outrunning Karma

by skyestar7703



Category: Assassination Classroom, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crack Treated Seriously, Gen, Shouto Todoroki is Karma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2020-12-17 03:15:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 41,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21047375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skyestar7703/pseuds/skyestar7703
Summary: Karma Akabane has been missing for months, shortly after Korosensei was killed, and all of E-class' former students are on high alert. This grinds to a halt when Nagisa finally finds Karma after so much searching - except half of his hair is white, there are scars that weren't there before, and he doesn't seem to recognize himself, much less his former classmates.Shouto has no idea who these random people calling him Karma are. Seriously, he doesn't. Just like he has no idea how he can fight like a pro assassin, or why the name Karma is so familiar to him.He has a feeling he's about to find out, whether he wants to or not.





	1. A (Somewhat) Long Awaited Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this a ridiculous concept? Yes it is. Was it a blast to write? Absolutely! I hope you enjoy.

Ritsu beeps instantly in Nagisa’s pocket. Curious, he takes out his phone, seeing her worried face flash across the screen. “What is it, Ritsu? Something wrong?”

Ritsu’s eyes are wide. “I found Karma.”

Nagisa freezes, his veins turning to ice. _Karma_. It’s been months since they killed Korosensei, since one of Nagisa’s best friends (and maybe a little more than that, but they hadn’t had the chance to do anything before-) vanished off the face of the earth. Everyone from Terasaka to Karasuma and Irina had been looking for him, but Nagisa’s friend had simply disappeared. They had upgraded Ritsu to the utmost, to the point where she could quietly scan everyone in the surrounding area and know everything about them, but even she had come up empty.

It’s telling that even after so much time has passed, Nagisa’s classmates are still looking for their longtime friend. It was a testament to how much they had all gone through together, a sign that even if the class went their separate ways, even going to different high schools, they were still as close as ever, and probably would always be.

Besides, they all know Karma. Irritating as he could be sometimes, he wouldn’t up and leave them like that without telling. He wouldn’t leave Nagisa without a word, not if he could help it. They may not have gone to the same high school, but they talked every day. Karma wasn’t gone by choice. 

Which meant that someone was skilled enough to take on an assassin trained to kill the unkillable, one of the best in their class, smart enough to outwit Karma, not an easy feat, and strong enough that Karma is still missing months later. Nagisa’s sure he isn’t dead (he _can’t_ be dead, please let him be okay-) but his absence still aches. 

So now, when Ritsu says she found Karma, Nagisa feels hope fluttering through him, hope he hasn’t felt in quite a long time. 

“Are you sure?” He asks. It isn’t that he doesn’t trust Ritsu, quite the opposite. He trusts her with his life, and that trust has paid off many times before. It’s that after so long searching for Karma, a part of him can’t believe he’d just run into the other boy on the streets.

Ritsu seems to understand, nodding solemnly. “Wherever I go with one of our classmates, I scan the surrounding area for any signs of Karma. I just hit a match. I did a little looking, and he fits the bill down to the T. Same blood type, DNA match, same injuries on his medical records, plus… a few more.” Her face darkens, and Nagisa feels a chill run down his spine, followed by burning anger. 

Whoever did this to Karma is going to _pay._

He takes a deep breath, calming himself. If there’s anything he’s learned, it’s that following those dark impulses on a whim will only lead to bad things. Nagisa’s gotten much better at not listening to them, and he won’t break that habit now, even if a part of him wants to. 

Besides, if one of their own is deeply injured, he won’t need to do much, not when an entire class of assassins, government officials, and a near omnipotent AI will be ready to take care of the problem alongside him.

Nagisa takes a deep breath. “Right then. Can you lead me to him?” Now’s not the time to get lost in thought, not when Karma is right within reach.

Ritsu bounces on the screen. “Of course! I’ve also alerted all of our classmates, as well as Karasuma-sensei and Bitch-sensei. They know he’s around, and that we’re going to go see him now.” Nagisa chuckles lightly at the “Bitch-sensei” remark, before Ritsu directs him a few blocks over, onto a much less crowded street.

Nagisa scans the quiet street and spots him, and he doesn’t need Ritsu to tell him that the boy in front of him is Karma. He has the same facial structure, the same height, and nearly the exact same hairstyle, and even if he didn’t, Nagisa would recognize him anyways. He can feel that it’s Karma, right down to his bones. If there’s anything he’s sure of at the moment, it’s that Karma Akabane is standing right in front of him.

His hair is only half his usual red. The other half is pure white, and the two colors are split right down the middle. Not exactly good for blending in with the crowd. Then again, Karma has never been one to care about things like blending in. He always needs to be the center of everyone’s attention. Nagisa wonders if his captor was the one who dyed his hair, or if Karma did that afterwards. 

In the end, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that he’s finally found his friend, and he never wants to lose sight of him again.

“Karma!” Nagisa runs forward, catching up to the other boy. Karma turns at the sound of his name, and Nagisa freezes in place.

Karma’s expression is the first thing he notices, even if it shouldn’t be. Karma’s knowing, mocking smile is gone, replaced with a mostly blank, but slightly confused look, something that feels plain wrong on Karma’s face.

It’s the scar Nagisa sees next. The deep burn scar that covers the top half of the left side of his face. It looks old. Maybe soon after he was taken? It looks older than that, actually. The sight of it causes fury to rise in him once again.

Then there was his eyes, one blue, one silver-gray. Neither the golden color they were supposed to be. If it was just that, Nagisa would have written it off as contacts, not that big of a deal. But taken with everything else, it’s just another thing off, another thing _wrong_ with the situation.

He’s been silent for too long, and Karma turns away. On impulse, with the desperation that comes with finally finding your lost friend only for them to start slipping away through your fingers, Nagisa grabs Karma’s wrist. “Please, wait!”

Karma turns back. “Were you talking to me?”

Nagisa almost lets go with surprise. “Well, yeah. How many other Karmas do you know? Of course I was talking to you.”

The confusion in Karma’s eyes is stronger now, and the feeling of total _wrongness_ increases. “My name isn’t Karma. I think you have the wrong person.” 

Nagisa is so taken aback, he can barely think for a moment, unusual for him. Ritsu’s worried gasp snaps him back to reality, and his mind his moving quickly once again. “If your name isn’t Karma,” he starts, “then why did you turn around when I called your name?”

Karma frowns, considering that. “I… don’t know. It’s an unusual name, I guess.”

“One you responded to,” Nagisa prods gently. It’s beyond worrying, because he’s absolutely certain this is Karma, his best friend and former classmate, and yet Karma doesn’t really recognize him. He doesn’t even seem to recognize himself. He’s acting completely different than usual. 

Karma gently pulls his arm out of Nagisa’s grip. He looks Nagisa over, analyzing him in a way that distinctly reminds Nagisa what Karma used to do. There’s a flicker of recognition there, in Karma’s eyes. Nagisa allows himself to hope. 

“What makes you so sure I’m this Karma guy?” Karma asks slowly. He doesn’t seem to believe Nagisa, not quite, but he’s willing to listen, and that’s all Nagisa can ask for at the moment. After a split-second decision, he holds out his phone, and Ritsu lights up on the screen.

“I’m positive you’re Karma,” she says brightly. “I’ve done a bio-metric scan and everything, you fit the bill perfectly. Don’t worry, we wouldn’t approach you if we weren’t sure!”

Karma shakes his head. “That still doesn’t make any sense. I can’t be- I can’t be someone else. I know who my parents are. I’ve lived with my father my entire life.” There’s something dangerous in his face as he mentions his “father”, and Nagisa mentally puts that man at the top of his list of people who could’ve done this to Karma. 

“Are you sure you’re remembering correctly?” Ritsu asks gently. 

“Yes.” Now Karma is starting to look annoyed, and Nagisa worries they’ve lost their chance to convince him. “I’m positive.” He steals a glance at Ritsu. “And what do you mean, you’ve taken a bio-metric scan of me?” He takes a step back. “I’ve never met you people before. I don’t know who you are.”

Nagisa reaches out. “Karma-”

“Todoroki!” Someone is calling out a name from behind Karma, who turns to look at them. Nagisa looks over his shoulder to see a tall boy their age, with neat dark hair and glasses. “We were looking for you. Midoriya and Uraraka are at the park already. It isn’t like you to be late!” 

“I’m fine Iida,” Karma sighs, although there’s no annoyance in his voice. The two must know each other well. “No need to worry.” Or perhaps it’s not that exactly. Nagisa looks closer. They have the camaraderie only those who have faced a life or death situation together share.

“Of course I need to worry! Tardiness isn’t like you, and as your friend and class rep, it is my duty to make sure you are at your best especially with-” Iida finally seems to notice Nagisa standing there, and cuts off rather abruptly, eyes widening. “Ah! I didn’t know you were talking to someone else, and that’s why you were late. My apologies to both of you.” He bows. “My name is Iida Tenya, I’m a friend of Todoroki’s. I’m so sorry for interrupting your conversation.”

Nagisa laughs and rubs the back of his neck. “Don’t worry about it.” He turns to Karma. “Sorry for keeping you. Maybe we can talk again?” It’s obvious he won’t be able to convince Karma of who he really is with just one conversation. Whatever hold his “father” has on him, it’s obviously extremely tight. Still, Nagisa knows that with the right prodding, the real Karma will come back. He’s sure of it.

Karma considers his offer. “If I see you again, sure.” He turns to walk away with Iida, and Nagisa considers that a win. 

“I’m worried,” Ritsu admits from his phone. “Karma’s not himself at all. He doesn’t know who he is, much less who we are. We all know how strong Karma is, so who could have done this to him?”

“I don’t know,” Nagisa admits. “But the real Karma is in there. He responded to his name, and I’m sure I saw some recognition in his eyes. Whoever did this to him couldn’t wipe out him out completely.” He thinks for another moment. “Can you do a search on the name Todoroki? See if we can find out more about him.”

“Of course,” Ritsu vows. “We’ll get to the bottom of this.”

_Hang on Karma. We’re coming for you. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, Karma. Usually he can get himself out of the trouble he runs into. Sometimes, however, he'll need to rely on his friends. He's only human, after all. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed so far, and please review to tell me what you liked or didn't like! Thanks for reading!


	2. A Lesson in Communication

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Misunderstandings are had, and just about everyone is confused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It should be noted that, due to the split from BNHA canon happening earlier than the story starts, things have already changed in some ways. This will be elaborated on later.
> 
> Like it? Don't like it? Any theories on what's going on? Please review and let me know!

“If I may ask, who was that boy?” They’re close to the spot where the four were meeting up. Uraraka had been so excited after her internship, and had decided to share her newfound martial arts knowledge with her friends, enlisting Shouto’s help to do so. 

“I’m not sure.” Shouto half shrugs. Truth be told, he’s not sure he wants to even think about that encounter, much less talk about it. (_You have to._) It was strange, because he had no reason to think the blue-haired boy was talking to him when he was calling for someone named Karma. And yet, he reacted anyways. 

Shouto’s frustrated, because none of that conversation went the way he thought it would. Something about the other highschooler (he thinks he was a high schooler, anyways, but he was short enough to still be in middle school) just seemed to get under his nerves. He knows he had no reason to listen to the boy and his weird companion, but it was as though he was drawn to them.

There were times when the other kid was talking that Shouto felt a snarky reply rise to the surface. He pushed it down, of course, because he wasn’t five and he didn’t even know the person, but the fact that it was there at all was troubling, because if there’s anything he’s learned, it’s that most people don’t appreciate those kinds of responses, and that they’re best saved for friends and siblings. He’s always had siblings, even if it’s just Fuyumi now, but this is the first time he’s had friends, and it feels better than he could have ever hoped for.

(Something tells him this isn’t the first time he’s had friends, and he tells it to shut up, because he’d definitely remember if he had friends before this year.)

(_Are you sure you’re remembering correctly?_ He pushes the weird AI’s words down even harder, because he’s not going to think about that.)

“Hey, you two’re here! Took you long enough!” They’re at the park, and true to Iida’s word, Midoriya and Uraraka are already there waiting for them, dressed in casual clothing. Uraraka smiles and runs over to them, Midoriya following right behind her. 

“Our sincerest apologies,” Iida says. “We were caught up in a conversation with a nice young boy from another school, and lost track of time.” He makes it sound like it was both of them, and not just Shouto. Not that Shouto minds; he knows Iida well enough to know it’s from good intentions, to direct any blame of being late off of him.

“Really?” Midoriya looks genuinely curious. “Who was he? Have you met him before?”

“No.” Shouto gives a half-shrug. “I think he mistook me for someone else.” That has to be the case, because even if the name Karma strikes a chord in him for some inexplicable reason, it’s still not his name, and he’s still never met that boy before. “I don’t even know what school he was from.”

Now that he thinks back on it, he’s not sure he’s even seen that high school uniform before. It definitely was a uniform, but he’s not familiar with it. Not that he knows every high school in Tokyo, but it’s another oddity to add to the pile.

“Huh, weird.” Uraraka seems to shrug it off quickly. “Anyways, are we going to work on this, or what? I can’t wait to get started!” She’s always been into martial arts and hand to hand, it’s why they bonded so fast. Still, ever since she got back from her internship, she’s been even more into it. 

“It’s a good thing it’s getting warmer out,” Izuku says cheerfully. “It’s nice to be able to train outside, and not in some gym. And we’ll need all the training we can get, with the practical exam coming up.”

“Very true, Midoriya!” Iida pushes up his glasses and takes off his coat, lying it neatly on the grass. “Should we get started right away?”

They trade off who spars with who, figuring out each other’s techniques. Shouto dodges and strikes at all his opponents like their moving in slow motion. An awful part of him seems to be trying to egg him towards teaching them by knocking them down over and over. Shouto corrects their mistakes instead. 

Out of the other three, Uraraka is the best. Not just because she’s been working at it for longer, but because she clearly has both a love for the fight and the natural talent to back it up. Iida follows up behind her, most likely having learned from his own family. Midoriya was lagging behind when they first started the group, but he has a ton of passion, and is quickly gaining ground.

Shouto wishes he knew how he could do this, wishes he knew where the knowledge came from. It’s as though one day he woke up, and just knew all these different skills he didn’t before. It’s not something that realistically happens to people, Shouto knows. But unfortunately, he can’t explain it any other way. 

(That traitorous feeling in his head rears up again, connecting his strange new skills to that boy in the street. It sounds absurd, and yet Shouto can’t shake the feeling that it has some merit.)

They stop for a break, and Izuku breaks out the snacks he packed. Shouto takes the offered food and watches Izuku wipe the sweat off his face. Shouto isn’t sweating at all, but he chalks that up to his quirk and nothing else.

“I’ve been thinking,” Iida starts, “About that boy we saw. There was something about him…” Shouto looks his way, surprised.

Uraraka voices what he’s thinking. “What do you mean? Something bad? Good? Weird? A mixture of the three?”

Iida chuckles sheepishly. “Ah, I’m not quite sure myself. Perhaps I was only imagining things. It was just, something felt very off about him.” His chuckles die down, and he looks away awkwardly. “This may sound strange, but he had an aura about him, something I felt before as I was approaching, and as we were leaving.” He looks Shouto and Midoriya in the eyes. “It reminded me of Stain.”

Midoriya gasps. Shouto feels himself freeze in place.

Had he noticed that as well? He can’t remember - he was too distracted by the boy’s words, and the fact that he had what looked like a working AI with him - he hadn’t been paying attention to anything else. Was the boy trying to get his guard down so he could strike? What would’ve happened had Iida not arrived when he did?

He should tell them about the AI, about what the boy said. Shouto opens his mouth… and nothing comes out. He shuts it quickly before the others can notice.

What’s wrong with him? Why can’t he bring himself to say anything? If that kid is anything like Stain, this is serious. Why can’t he bring himself to say anything? 

“We should learn more,” he finally says. “We can’t jump to conclusions like that.”

“Right.” Midoriya seems shaken. It isn’t as though Shouto blames him - Stain was terrifying - but he feels just as compelled to come to the blue-haired boy’s defense as he does to comfort his friend. Of course, defending the weird boy would mean explaining more about their conversation, so there’s no way that’s happening. 

“We’ll look him up,” Uraraka declares. “Did either of you get his name?”

Iida shakes his head and looks at Shouto who winces. Dammit, he did forget to ask for a name. It’s like all his common sense flew out the window for that one weird conversation. What the hell did that boy do to him? He hasn’t been this conflicted with himself since the USJ incident! 

“Oh well,” Midoriya sighs. “Guess we’ll know what to ask if we run into him. And we, ah, might want to make sure we’re not alone for long if we do.”

They all agree to this. Uraraka suggests they stop training for the day and just go hang out, and despite Iida’s initial protests, they all agree to that as well. So Shouto leaves the park with his friends, determined to put the odd encounter behind him.

(_Nagisa. His name is Nagisa._) 

(He’s not listening.)

* * *

“So you found Karma, but he doesn’t remember anything?” Isogai frowns, deep in thought. “And he mentioned that he’s lived with his “father” his whole life?”

“And half his hair is white too?” Kayano wonders. “What’s with that?”

“I got a picture of him while we were talking,” Ritsu informs her. “Here, I’ll show you what he looks like.” Nagisa holds up the picture while the others crowd around him to look.

There are a number of them out at lunch together. Nagisa and Ritsu, obviously, as well as Isogai, Kayano, Maehara, and Nakamura. As soon as Nagisa and Ritsu had spread the message about Karma’s current situation, the entire class, as well as their teachers, had responded quickly and with worry. Exams were coming up, however, and not all of them could meet up at the same time. It was agreed that information would be spread out by those who could meet up, and so there they were. 

“That’s Karma alright,” Maehara frowns. “But it’s like a twisted version of him.”

“Anti-Karma,” Kayano suggests. 

“And that scar. It looks old.” Worry flashes across Nakamura’s face. She and Karma have certainly grown closer as friends, even after graduation. Nagisa knows she wants her partner in crime back, and as Karma is, it seems like that’s still a long way off. 

“You said some guy named Iida came over and called him away?” Isogai asks. “Do you think he knows anything about this, or is a part of the problem?”

“I don’t think so,” Nagisa says. “It sounded like they were just good friends. It reminds me a bit more of us than anything. They’ve got the kind of bond we have, like they’ve been through some really intense stuff together. Plus, he gave us his full name. He wouldn’t do that if he suspected we knew Karma from before, right?”

Nakamura shrugged. “Could be a fake name.” She looks down at Ritsu. “Found anything on the name Todoroki?”

Ritsu looks dejected. “Not at all. There are lots of people with the family name Todoroki in Japan, but none of them match Karma, or whoever his supposed father could be. It’s not just that though, I couldn’t find anything on an Iida Tenya either. It’s like neither of them exist.”

Maehara shudders. “Okay, that’s super weird. What the hell is even going on?”

“Sounds like Karma’s gotten himself mixed up in some really shady stuff.” Kayano agrees. “Maybe this Iida guy is in on whatever this is, maybe he isn’t. We should be on the lookout for him either way. And whoever the “Midoriya” and “Uraraka” people were, the ones that he mentioned.”

“I guess that’s all we can do for now. Just be on the lookout for them and Karma.” Nagisa tries not to feel too dejected. It’s really frustrating though, and he worries that if they don’t find Karma again, they’ll be back to square one.

Kayano’s hand rests on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’ll find him. We’re E-Class, we can do anything if we put our minds to it!”

It’s times like these Nagisa is so glad to have his old class by his side. He gives her a grateful smile. “You’re right. We can do this.” 

“I’ll share what we’ve discussed with everyone else,” Ritsu says. “With everyone on the lookout, I’m sure we’ll dig up something!”

Ritsu is right. Their class has accomplished the impossible over and over again, and they can do it once more, especially for a fellow classmate. If anyone can help Karma, it’s them, and none of them are willing to let him slip through their fingers that easily. 

Whoever took him better be prepared, because E-Class certainly is.


	3. Study Buddies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shouto runs into another former E-Class student, and decides to hear them out. But first: Coffee.

It’s Sugino who finds Karma next. He’s looking for somewhere to study when he can’t concentrate at home, and spots decides a local coffee shop would be a good place to do so. It must be a new place, because Sugino hasn’t seen it before, but it looks nice and cozy, so he decides to try it out.

Two cups of coffee later, and he’s still just as stumped as he was before. Sugino sighs and rubs his forehead. He misses Korosensei, and how he was always able to taylor his lessons to each individual student. Not that he expects every teacher to do so; after all, no other teacher can move at mach twenty and teach their kids about assassination, but he can’t help but compare every new teacher he has to the octopus.

Korosensei’s lessons haven’t been lost on him. He’s been doing far better than he ever could have dreamed before Korosensei decided to teach E-Class. It’s just that now he’s hit a wall, and try as he might, Sugino just can’t seem to get over it. 

“Are you alright over there?” He looks up at the sound of the new voice. There’s a very pretty girl standing in front of him, about his age, with black hair tied up in a spiky ponytail, looking sweetly concerned about him. Beside her is a boy with bright blond hair and black lightning bolts in it. A pretty cool dye job, Sugino thinks.

Next to them is Karma. Sugino’s breath catches as he looks into Karma’s impassive face, looks at that strange scar. 

The girl continues. “I just noticed that you look like you’re struggling with studying, and that the material you’re working on looks just like ours. The three of us came here to study as well, so maybe you’d like to join us?”

Karma is _right there_, and Sugino would have to be an idiot not to take her up on the offer. “Thanks, I appreciate it a lot. Just pull up some chairs, if you want.”

“Dude, you don’t know how lucky you are,” the blond boy says, grabbing a chair from another table and plopping a set of notebooks down with a thump. “Yaoyorozu and Todoroki are the best in our class!” He points to the girl when saying Yaoyorozu, so Sugino assumes he’s talking about her. That would make Todoroki Karma, as they had figured out before. 

If there’s any comfort Sugino can take from this, it’s that these two are obviously just classmates, and not the ones who took Karma. He can afford to relax around them. Whether he can afford to relax around Karma is still up in the air. 

In a split second decision, Sugino decides not to tell Karma that he’s a former classmate. If Karma didn’t believe Nagisa, there’s no way he would believe Sugino, and he doesn’t want to make the guy suspicious of him.

“That’s really great to hear,” Sugino says, as though he didn’t know already that Karma would be at the top of his class, because of course he was. “My name’s Sugino, by the way. Tomohito Sugino.”

The blond boy grins. “Nice to meet you, Sugino! I’m Kaminari, and of course there’s Yaoyorozu and Todoroki.”

“You already said that,” Karma says, sitting across from them. His voice is a lot more even than it had been before. “Let’s just get to the studying, yeah?” They all settle down. 

Kaminari wasn’t kidding when he said Yaoyorozu was the best in their class. She also happens to be an expert tutor, it seems, and with her gentle guidance, Sugino finds himself easily surpassing the barrier he had been stuck behind. Karma isn’t nearly as cut out for tutoring as his female counterpart, but he tries, pointing out Kaminari’s mistakes and how to correct them with far more gentleness than Sugino ever remembers him having. 

“Thanks you guys,” Kaminari says as Yaoyorozu guides him through another problem in their workbook. “I don’t know what I’d have done if it wasn’t for you.” He turns to Sugino. “You’re really good yourself! Looks like you didn’t need that much help.”

“I just had a really good teacher last year,” Sugino laughs bashfully. He notices Karma watching him out of the corner of his eye. “My grades skyrocketed because of him. Best teacher I ever could have wished for.” In more ways than one, but he can’t exactly tell them that.

“I dunno.” Kaminari grins. “I bet our teachers could give him a big run for his money. Especially Aizawa.” Yaoyorozu shares a quiet smile with the blond boy. 

Sugino smiles. “Somehow, I doubt that.”

“The first day of school, he entered unannounced in a sleeping bag, then had us miss orientation to take physical tests, saying that he would expel whoever did the poorest,” Karma deadpans, and Sugino spits out the coffee he was drinking, because what? “Another day, he was so injured you couldn’t see him through all his bandages, and he came to school anyways. He sort of flits through both ends of the spectrum.”

“He was only injured because he was protecting us,” Yaoyorozu says, as Kaminari laughs at Sugino’s surprise. “It just shows how much dedication he has to his students, and how much his job as an educator matters to him.” 

“He’s also super hardcore, don’t forget about that,” Kaminari adds cheerfully. At this point, Sugino feels the pressing need to defend Korosensei to these people (although he is curious about what this Aizawa guy was defending them _from_). 

“Well for starters, our class was considered the worst in the school, and constantly looked down upon. By the end of the year, we were all top students in the grade.” He thought about something else he could say that might sound impressive. “One time, our class was at a vacation resort on a school trip, and some jerks spiked our drinks and got half the class sick. Our sensei helped us track down the ones who did it and, ah, made sure they were brought to justice.” He looks at their worried faces and backtracks somewhat. “Don’t worry, everyone was okay in the end! It wasn’t super bad, they all recovered really quickly.”

“Seriously man?” Kaminari laughs incredulously. “Not that that doesn’t sound awesome, but that is such a ‘pics or it didn’t happen story.”

“Hey, my friend’s drinks were spiked, and they all got sick!” Sugino protests. “I wasn’t really in the right mindset to take pictures at the time.” Not that he could show any if he had. He wonders absentmindedly if the girls still have that picture of Nagisa cross-dressing. “Besides, do you have pictures of your teacher wrapped in bandages like you said?”

“You bet!” Kaminari whips out his phone and scrolls through his photos, before shoving one in Sugino’s face. The other boy… really wasn’t exaggerating. The man is wrapped head to toe in bandages, with only spaces for his eyes and and messy black hair showing through. 

“It’s good to know your classmates were alright.” Yaoyorozu sighs in relief. “I understand why you care about him so much, Sugino. He sounds like an amazing person.”

_Person. Right. Still…._ “Yeah.” Sugino can’t help but smile. “Yeah, he really was.”

“Was?” Sugino’s eyes snap upwards to meet Karmas. Karma’s still pretty unreadable, but Sugino wonders if his story is jogging his old classmate’s memory. If there’s any memory that can beat amnesia, or brainwashing, or whatever it is that’s turned him into this, it would be memories of Korosensei. He wishes he could tell what Karma is thinking. 

_You should be telling this story too,_ he thinks. _You defeated Grip, after all. And stuck spices in his nose._

“Yeah.” Something quivers in his voice as he answers Karma’s question. “He died at the end of last year.” 

“Oh.” He feels a hand on his, and looks up to see Yaoyorozu looking at him with sadness and concern. _She’s really pretty_, he can’t help but think, but he shoves the thought away. “I’m so sorry. How are you holding up?”

Sugino shakes his head to clear his mind. “It’s still hard sometimes,” he answers honestly. “We all miss him. But he always wanted us to go forward and live our lives to the fullest, and that’s what I plan on doing.” 

“I commend you for that,” Yaoyorozu praises. “I think we should all try and live up to the potential seen in us by those who care.”

The topic later turns to baseball, and Sugino reveals he plays for his high school team, to the delight of Kaminari. Sugino finds he greatly enjoys the company of Yaoyorozu and Kaminari. They’re both likable and approachable people, and he can see why Karma chose to study with them. 

This version of Karma, Todoroki as the others called him, seems to have little to say, preferring to listen. When he does speak up however, the others pay attention, and seem to take his words to heart. Sugino can see the snark and cutting intelligence that Karma always openly showed, but it’s much more hidden and subdued. He’s softer, but at the same time, colder. The others will probably want to know about that.

“Hey man,” Kaminari says as they walk out of the shop together. “Want to trade numbers? You’re really cool, it’d be great to keep in touch.”

“I would like to as well,” Yaoyorozu says. Which, _wow_. Okay. He’s not turning that down. 

“I’d love to!” He trades numbers with the two other kids. Sugino turns to Karma, but catches himself before he can ask. This version of Karma doesn’t seem the type to want to trade numbers with someone he doesn’t really know. Still, Sugino has his schoolmate’s numbers, and that will probably be a huge help figuring out this mystery. Not that it’s all about the mystery; he wants to get to know these nice people. There’s just the added benefit of them being close to Karma.

Lost in his thoughts as Sugino is, he doesn’t notice Karma telling his friends to go on without him until he turns back to Sugino, calculating expression on his face. Sugino forces himself into the present, and the two meet each other’s eyes, not speaking. 

“You wouldn’t happen to know a boy with blue hair, would you?” Karma asks. It takes all of Sugino’s training not to freeze up at the statement. 

“You say that like there’s only one blue haired boy on the entire planet,” Sugino responds carefully. Sure, blue hair is rare, but it’s not entirely unknown. He has a feeling he won’t be able to get away with that though. 

True to that thought, Karma sees right through it. “I think we both know who I’m talking about,” he says quietly. “You both have that…” He seems to struggle for words. “There’s something about you. And you mentioned your teacher, and it-” He cuts off abruptly, turning away. “I’ll get going now.”

“W-wait! Todoroki!” Sugino protests, the name rolling off his tongue awkwardly. He’d carefully avoided calling Karma that, because it just seemed weird and wrong, but it’s probably the best thing to do now, as it seems to placate the other boy. 

He has the floor. _Keep talking._ “Listen. I know Nagisa probably freaked you out that one time, and I can understand why, but there was a reason he wanted to talk with you so badly.” _What would Korosensei tell him to say? Or maybe Bitch-sensei in this case: Keep it simple, maybe even the truth, omitting whatever will scare the target off._ “Something fishy is going on here, and it looks like all of us are caught up in it, including you.”

Now he has Karma’s undivided attention. It’s just as unnerving as it sounds. “What sort of fishy things?” He asks sharply.

Sugino hesitates. “We’re not sure yet.” _Keep it simple_. “That’s what we’re trying to find out. I’ll let you know more if I can-”

“Not just me,” Karma interrupts. “My friends as well. If something is going down, they should know.” He narrows his eyes. “We’ll talk again. After the exams though. Our exams are supposed to be tough, and I need to focus on that. Not to mention the physical portion.”

“I totally understand. We can talk then.” Although Sugino does wonder what Karma means by “physical”. What kind of school has a physical exam on the finals? But he doesn’t say as much, just holds his phone out. The two exchange numbers, and with a final nod and small wave, Karma walks away.

As soon as he’s well enough away, Sugino calls Nagisa. 

Nagisa picks up right away. “Hey Sugino! What’s up?”

He gets straight to the point. “I ran into Karma. He’s agreed to meet with us, as long as he can bring some of his friends.” He hears Nagisa’s gasp on the other end.

Sugino was never as close with Karma as Nagisa was, but he grew to like the guy, as he did with all of their classmates. They had spent so much time together with Nagisa, Kayano, and Okuda, it was hard not to get attached. Karma’s never been the type to really need help before, but Sugino does consider him a friend. And even if he was always more than a bit strange, Sugino’s going to do whatever he can to help him.

“Understood,” Nagisa says softly. “I guess we’ll just have to come up with the right things to say by then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know Sugino was one of the kids out of commission during the island arc, but let's just say in this world he wasn't.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed, and please leave a review, let me know if you liked it, or what you think is really going on! Thank you!


	4. A Messy Conversation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kids from two different classes meet up, and while some questions are somewhat answered, more and more keep showing up. Throw in a villain encounter, and this might be the worst trip to the mall any of them have had.

“Everyone,” Mina sniffs, looking utterly dejected, “I-I can’t wait to hear about how much fun you all have at camp.” Kaminari nods morosely. 

Midoriya, Sero, and Momo stand there awkwardly, wondering how they can possibly comfort the two teams who failed their final exam. Momo finally speaks up. “Hey, I wouldn’t worry about it if I were you. I mean, Kaminari! You did great on the written exam, that has to count for something, right?”

“Says you!” Kaminari snaps. “You and Todoroki captured Aizawa within a couple minutes! That was totally unfair, putting the two of you together.” The other three heartily agree. Momo wishes she could protest, but they’ve all seen the results of the exams. She’s proud of what the two of them accomplished, but seeing as just recently she was watching others in the class excel and doubting her worth, she can understand how her words might not help.

“Maybe they’ll let you go anyways,” Midoriya offers meekly. “Maybe it was all a ruse, like the quirk test the first day.”

Sero puts a solemn hand on Midoriya’s shoulder. “Stop it, okay? By saying it out loud, you could be jinxing them.” He sighs. “I’m not sure I’ll get to go either. Our team only passed thanks to Mineta.” He sends a disgusted glance towards his former partner, whose smug look sends discomfort running down Momo’s spine. “I got knocked out. And since we don’t know how they’re scoring things, I might’ve flunked.”

“At least bring us some souvenirs, please!” Kaminari sobs.

The door slams open. “Once the bell rings, you should be in your seats,” Aizawa snaps at them. With the speed and ease of kids who have been training regularly, everyone is in their seat in less than a second, looking politely up at their teacher.

“Morning.” Aizawa heads to the front of the room. “Unfortunately, there are a few of you who didn’t pass your final exam. So when it comes to the training camp in the woods…” Aizawa smiles. “Everyone is going.”

“It’s another logical ruse!” The four of them cry, letting out exclamations of relief. Momo has to stiffle her laughter. It does make sense, after all. 

“Yeah. Good news is that no one bombed the written exam. Five failed the practical badly. Two teams, and then Sero.” Sero yelps in his seat at being called out. “Allow me to explain. For the practical battles, the teachers made sure to leave a way for the students to win. Otherwise, you never would have stood a chance. We wanted to see how you worked together and approached the task at hand.”

“But you said the teachers wouldn’t be holding back,” Ojiro points out. 

Aizawa shakes his head. “That was to motivate you. The training camp is going to focus on building your strength. It wouldn’t make sense to leave behind those who failed, they need it more than everyone else. Of course they were going to go.”

Iida slams his hands on the desk as he stands up. “Aizawa-sensei, this is the second time you’ve lied to us! Aren’t you afraid we’ll lose faith in you?” Momo smiles at his bluntness as Aizawa explains that those who failed will receive extra training. They could always trust Iida to say what was on everyone’s mind.

After class is over, they all pack up, excitedly talking about what the training camp might hold for them, and what they’ll need to get for it. Kaminari turns to Todoroki. “Hey weren’t we going to meet up with Sugino and his friends at the mall tomorrow? We could all go shopping for supplies then.”

“That sounds like a great idea,” Momo agrees. She’s excited to see Sugino again, as well as meet more of his friends. They had continued texting back and forth after exchanging numbers, and it’s a wonderful feeling, having a new friend. Todoroki had told them that he and Sugino had decided to meet up, and that they agreed to bring friends. Momo had decided to come along, and so had Kaminari, Iida, Uraraka, and Midoriya.

“I guess we’ll finally get to meet that Nagisa kid,” Midoriya murmurs. He exchanges a tentative glance with Iida, and Uraraka’s brow is furrowed in thought. Sugino did mention he had a friend named Nagisa. Momo wonders what about this guy has them so on edge.

“You’re coming, right Bakugou?” Kirishima asks, even though they all know the answer. It’s a surprise to no one when he mocks the invitation and walks out. Still, they have a great number of classmates who are going, and the day promises to be a fun one.

* * *

The mall is packed, with massive outdoor and indoor areas. Shouto waits by the food court for his friends to show up. They had all split up, and while the group as a whole had decided to reconvene at three in the afternoon, the six of them were meeting Sugino, Nagisa, and their friends at twelve by the food court.

It’s a strange and wonderful experience, going to the mall with friends. Shouto has no clear memories of doing something like this before, which makes it all new and somewhat exciting. After years of being on his own, he has people who want him around, not to use him, but because they like him for who he is.

(And yet-)

“Um, Todoroki!” 

Shouto looks over to see Sugino and Nagisa jogging towards him, a green haired girl in tow. It’s kind of uncomfortable, the way their eyes light up when they see him. He’s still sure he doesn’t really know them, and even if all the strange feelings he’s been getting since first meeting Nagisa (and learning about their teacher, how does he even know all of them were in the same class, they didn’t say-) turn out to have some basis in fact, that doesn’t mean anything has changed (it doesn’t).

They’ve caught up to him now. Nagisa smiles at him, and it looks sad, and his traitorous heart aches for the boy he doesn’t know. “It’s good to see you again. Sorry about last time, that was a really bad first impression, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, it was.” He sees Nagisa wince and ignores it, inclining his head to the green haired girl. “So, who is this?”

She smiles cheerfully. “Hi! I’m Kayano, it’s nice to see you again - I mean, meet you again - um-”

Okay, so another person who thinks that he’s this Karma guy. Years of practice let Shouto maintain his neutral expression, and he’s saved the trouble of responding by the arrival of his friends.

“Dude, good to see you again!” Kaminari slaps Sugino on the back, who laughs. 

“It’s nice to meet you two,” Yaoyorozu says politely to Nagisa and Kayano. Izuku stammers out a hello, and Uraraka gives a cheerful wave. “Perhaps we should all grab a seat together? Or are we expecting anyone else?”

“I’m sure they’ll be able to find us, don’t worry about it,” Nagisa says. “Let’s grab some food.” They seperate briefly to each find a lunch that interests them, meeting back up at one of the Food Court’s larger tables. 

Soon after they’ve started on their food, four more people arrive. A blond boy and girl, a dark haired boy, and a girl with braids and glasses. They grab food for themselves and sit down at the table, introducing themselves as Maehara, Nakamura, Isogai, and Okuda, respectively. Shouto feels their eyes resting on him, and tries to avoid their gazes.

“So, what’s this fishy thing you were talking about before?” He asks Sugino, who is conversing happily with Yaoyorozu. To the left of him, he notices Iida and Midoriya’s nervous gazes resting on Nagisa. Neither have forgotten Iida’s bad feeling from the first time they met, it seems.

“Right.” Sugino looks at Nagisa, who pulls out his phone to show that strange AI girl once again.

“Woah, what is that?” Uraraka asks.

The AI smiles. “Hello! I’m Ritsu. Originally, I was an Autonomous Intelligence Fixed Artillery Unit, but I’ve changed for the better! Now I can travel with all my friends and conduct massive searches on the internet! All legal, don’t worry.”

“That’s amazing,” Midoriya marvels. He and Yaoyorozu inspect the AI, who doesn’t seem to mind any of the attention.

“Yeah, Ritsu’s amazing, and a one of a kind.” Isogai smiles. “Anyways, as we were saying, after that one time Nagisa, Todoroki, and Iida met, Ritsu’s been looking up any information she could find on you guys.”

Iida stiffens. “Hey! I thought you said everything she did was legal!”

“Is looking people up on the internet illegal?” Ritsu asks innocently. Iida sputters out. “We were just curious before, but it turns out something really strange is going on. I couldn’t find anything about an Iida Tenya anywhere! It’s like you don’t even exist.”

“Seriously?” Kaminari takes Nagisa’s phone and pulls up the internet, surfing through it. “Yeah, hang on! There’s nothing here about the Iida’s at all! He glances at Shouto, then starts typing again. Or Endeavor! This is so weird!”

Midoriya is on his own phone, furiously typing. “It’s not just you guys. Sugino said his full name was Sugino Tomohito? There’s nothing here to indicate that he exists at all. Total blank.”

“That would explain why I couldn’t identify the school uniform you were wearing,” Iida muses. “How odd. You were right, this certainly is fishy!”

“Is there anything that shows up for all of us?” Nakamura suggests. “We should try that out, see what shows up where.” She turns to Kaminari. “Also, who’s Endeavor?” Shouto feels his blood run cold. His head is starting to pound.

“Only the number two hero in Japan,” Uararaka says. “How do you not know him? What about All Might? You have to know All Might, he’s one of the best heroes in the world!”

Okuda shakes her head. “Sorry, never heard of him.” Midoriya looks personally offended. Kaminari and Iida let out loud gasps. The pounding in Shouto’s head is getting louder, becoming insistent drumming. There’s something there, _just out of reach-- _

“What about the moon?” Nagisa asks. He sounds quiet, nervous, and Shouto needs to leave.

He stands. “I’m going to get some air.” Then he leaves as quickly as he can, ignoring the protests of his friends behind him. He’s out of the food court as fast as he can be without using his quirk.

Shouto leans against a wall, taking deep breaths. The less he tries to think about what everyone was talking about, the more the pain in his head goes away, but in its place is shakiness and quiet nerves. 

He has no idea what’s going on, or what’s happened to him, and at this point, he’s almost scared to find out.

“Oh, it’s someone from Yuuei, nice!” 

Shouto looks around, identifying the strangely familiar voice as the man in the dark hoodie. He draps an arm around Shouto before he can respond. “You’re the one who won the sports festival, right? And aren’t you one of the students who ran into the hero killer in the Hosu incident too? You’re practically famous!”

_The chief of police made that information classified._ Shouto tries not to flinch. “You seem to know a lot.” He readies himself to escape. He doesn’t know if this guy will use his quirk or not, but while heading back to the food court could increase his strength in numbers, this man might have backup, and he’d be putting those other kids in the line of fire.

“Of course, of course. I make it a point to know about people like you.” Before Shouto can move, four of the man’s fingers are on his neck, the fifth positioned an inch away. “Oh, right! From your point of view, we haven’t met since the attack on Yuuei.” The man smiles at him, all chapped lips and red eyes. “Why don’t we spend some time catching up?”

Shouto could panic. Running won’t to any good. He’s sure of himself when it comes to martial arts, but this guy, _Shigaraki,_ he has the advantage, since all he needs to do is put his last finger down. Shouto saw what he did to Aizawa at the USJ.

He can’t run, he can’t fight, he can’t hide. So instead, Shouto breathes.

_You’re not the most dangerous thing I’ve seen._ Yellow flashes in his mind, although he doesn’t quite know why. _I can deal with you. _

“You have a disintegration quirk, right?” He says. “Put your last finger down and I’m dust. You’d probably follow up on that threat too if I fought, take a bunch of people down with you before anyone could show up. But you’re not trying to call attention to us at the moment, which means I’m not a hostage in the conventional sense.” He wishes he could turn his head all the way, but he doesn’t want to risk it. “So. What did you want to talk about?”

Shigaraki laughs and laughs. “That was smart! You figured it all out, good on you! You’re pretty high-level, for a first year. Let’s find a nice place to sit down and chat, make ourselves more comfortable.” Shouto lets Shigaraki guide him to a bench by some flora in the mall, and they sit.

“When it comes down to it, I hate basically everything,” Shigaraki explains, “But the hero killer pisses me off the most right now. Media made it look like he was one of my guys, but that ended up being the problem! It’s like suddenly everyone is obsesed with that stupid hero killer. The attack on Yuuei, the Nomus in Hosu, he upstaged all of it! No one’s even giving me a second thought.”

“Media moves on from one thing to the next pretty fast,” Shouto tries to sympathize. “Must be a pain to stay relevant.”

Shigaraki nods his head. “You don’t know the half of it. It doesn’t make sense though, even if he claimed to believe in things, all he really did was try to get rid of things he didn’t like.”

“Maybe many people are like that. Trying to get rid of the things they don’t like. Even if what they don’t like is crime, or a fear, or a bad taste in their mouths.” Where is Shouto going with this? He has no idea. But someone’s bound to come looking for him eventually, so he keeps talking.

“That’s what I always say!” Shigaraki leans closer. “Hey, what do you think the difference is? Between me and the hero killer, I mean.”

Shouto considers. It’s a pretty loaded question, after all. “Well, for starters, I think there are two main ways people can garner attention from out of nowhere. One is that while their motives are totally unknown, they have the strength and charisma that causes people to be drawn to them anyway.” Again, that flash of yellow. He doesn’t quite know what it is, but it feels familiar, and it gives him the courage to keep going. “Then there are people like Stain, who don’t need charisma, because what people are drawn to aren’t they themselves, but their ideas. Their motives.”

Shigaraki is listening, and so Shouto continues. “You seem like you would do better in the latter category, but the problem is that as it stands, no one knows what your motives are.” He’s never been one for smiling. But at the moment, it seemed the best thing to do. All Might always smiled, it showed he was unafraid. So now Shouto smiles, and keeps his body from tensing up as best he can. “If you appear to be destroying things for the hell of it, you’re no better than some random terrorist. But put some well thought out motives behind it, and there will be people who sympathize with you.” 

There’s a moment of silence, and Shouto wonders if he’s said the wrong thing. But then Shigaraki smiles, and it’s probably one of the worst things Shouto has had the misfortune of seeing.

“You know,” the villain says, “I was originally looking for your classmate, Midoriya Izuku. But I’m glad I ran into you instead. I like you much better.”

No fear. “Is that so?” Shigaraki’s last finger is way too close to his neck, and Shouto doesn’t want to die here.

“...Karma?” 

For once, the name sends relief running through his body. Shouto looks up to see Nagisa staring at them, eyes wide, automatically suspicious. “Karma, who is this? A… no, not a friend.” Nagisa’s wide-eyed look turns into a glare, and Shouto can feel Shigaraki stiffen, two of his fingers lifting off Shouto’s neck. He takes the precious second to brush out of the other man’s hold, and strides over to Nagisa.

Nagisa takes his eyes off Shigaraki to look at Shouto, and whatever effect they caused on the villain is gone. Shigaraki doesn’t look angry, to Shouto’s surprise and relief. 

“Tch.” He rubs his fingers. “A fear based quirk. Useful, but weak as it is.” Nagisa looks even more confused than before. “Nice to see the younger generation blossoming and all that. You’d make a good villain, you know.”

Nagisa smiles slightly, no warmth in his eyes. “Nah, that’s not for me. Assassin is more my speed.” And maybe Shouto should be worried about that, but he’s not. He just watches as Shigaraki walks away from them.

Nagisa turns back to him. “Are you alright? Did he hurt you?”

“I’m okay,” Shouto sighs. “We should probably call the police though.”

“Yeah, no kidding. There goes the rest of our day.”

* * *

It’s frustrating, because when Nagisa walked up to Karma in that moment, when he was being threatened by that other man, the blank look was gone, his old smile was back, and he was speaking as he always did, back when he knew he was Karma, back before all of this mess. 

Any further conversation between their groups is cut off as the mall is closed down, and Karma is whisked away by the police. They agree to meet up again, once the other class’ training camp is over. 

It was awful, seeing Karma’s life in danger right after Nagisa finally found him again, and it was wonderful seeing Karma acting like himself, even if only a little bit, and only for a few moments. It shows the Karma Nagisa cares so much for is still in there. (Although he’s still not sure what the guy meant by his “quirk”. Something about fear? It didn’t really make sense.)

Heroes, villains, and shady men in malls be damned. Nagisa is going to get to the bottom of this, no matter what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the true nature of this crossover is finally coming out. At least sort of. And it seems that the mall trip went a little differently than in canon. Whether that'll make larger ripples in this world has yet to be seen. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed, and please don't forget to review and let me know your thoughts!


	5. An Uncertain Calm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things may seem relatively peaceful, but make no mistake: the storm is coming.

“Here’s the deal,” Aizawa informs them. “We’ll be on this bus an hour before our first stop. Make sure you stay focused.” Of course, they are all high schoolers, and everyone starts jumping out of their seats and talking to each other immediately. Aoyama stands next to Shouto, posing. He tries to ignore him. 

His phone buzzes in his pocket. Shouto pulls it out, and the usual screen melts away, revealing the purple haired AI, Ritsu, that Nagisa, Sugino, and their friends always seemed to be carrying around.

“Hello! It’s good to see you again Karma!” Ritsu smiles, and it only serves to piss him off even more. Of course Shouto can’t just take a trip with his class without those strange people butting in. That would be too much to hope for.

“What are you going here?” He hisses, trying not to get anyone else’s attention. He’s not sure what Aizawa would saw about Ritsu, and even if she annoys him, he’d still rather not find out.

“I took the liberty of uploading myself onto your phone,” Ritsu says cheerfully, as if this isn’t a big deal. “I’m on all of my classmates phones, but you’ve got a new phone now, which means I needed to re-upload.”

“You’re not my classmate,” Shouto mutters. “They’re not my classmates.”

Ritsu looks sad, which shouldn’t make him feel bad, except that it does. “Former classmates then,” She corrects. “Even if you don’t seem to remember it.”

That’s right. The first time he met Nagisa and Ritsu, she had said he had the exact same structure as the Karma person everyone was looking for, right down to his DNA. It was weird and invasive to hear her talking about how she had scanned him like that. And yet, with everything that had gone on since….

Shouto shakes his head. Sure, maybe there were things that struck a chord with him, things that the other kids said that brought back feelings that had no right being there. That would only make sense if - if they were telling the truth. (And oh, how the thought makes his skin crawl.) But still.

“I still think you have the wrong person,” he says softly. “There aren’t any gaps in my memory where your story could fit in. I can remember all of my childhood. Vividly, in fact.” He rubs his arms where bruises have faded with time, his left hand goes up to touch the scar around his eye. 

“You guys always looked shocked at my scar,” Shouto notes. “I’ve had this since I was five.” 

Ritsu's eyes are wide. “Can you tell me what happened?” She asks softly. 

He doesn’t want to. But he did tell Uraraka, Midoriya, and Iida, and some part of him feels as though he can trust Ritsu just as much, even if he doesn’t quite understand why. (It would make sense if he was “Karma”, but he’s _not_.) 

“My mom,” he says softly. Ritsu gasps softly. “It wasn’t her fault. My old man drove her to do it. Then he locked her away - I’ve only started to see her again recently - but it happened a long time ago. Long before I could’ve met you.”

Ritsu looks heartbroken, and Shouto wishes the ache in his chest at that would go away. “Karma I - I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize.” She vanishes from his screen, leaving the regular screen. He spends the rest of the ride in silence.

* * *

“These things just keep coming!” Kirishima yells, dodging another beast Pixie Bob had created. Honestly, it’s pretty impressive, how detailed her dirt monsters were. It would be more impressive if Shouto didn’t have to fight them. 

He scales up one of the taller trees, watching the newest beast lumber around below him. His phone beeps again, revealing that Ritsu is back. 

“I’m a little busy at the moment,” he tells her, freezing the legs off another beast. That draws attention to him, so he hops from branch to branch until he’s out of sight again.

“I know, but I can help! I’ve calculated the quickest route to the camp!” A map flashes on his phone, drawing out a route right before his eyes. It makes sense, and a concrete route would be helpful.

“...Thanks Ritsu.” He drops down from the tree, right next to Yaoyorozu. 

“Todoroki!” She says, surprised. “Everything going okay?”

“Yeah.” He shows her the map. “Ritsu calculated a route. We should head this way.”

Her surprise is evident. “I didn’t know she was on your phone.” She sends him a questioning look, and he shrugs, unwilling to reveal everything the other kids had been saying about him just yet. “This does look good. Thank you Ritsu.”

Ritsu reappears on the screen. “No problem! Glad to help out my friends. And that’s not all! If more monsters appear in our way, I can make adjustments to keep us on time!”

“Everyone!” Yaoyorozu calls out. “Follow us! We’ve got a good route to take.” There is surprise, and angry disappointment from Bakugou, but as a class, they all follow.

* * *

They were woken up at five in the morning. Shouto drags himself out of bed, and, despite his reservations, puts his phone in his uniform’s pocket. Ritsu had helped them find a quick way to the camp, after all. It could be useful to have her around. 

“Thanks for bringing me!” Ritsu says as they hang back from the rest of the group, so that Aizawa doesn’t hear her. “I can’t wait to see more of these “quirk” things. I still can’t believe you have actual superpowers.”

“It’s not that big of a deal.” Shouto shrugs. “Eighty percent of the population has a quirk, after all. Our quirks are just good enough to get us into the hero course.” He watches Aizawa hand Bakugou the ball, and remembers Ritsu’s stunned exclamation in the woods yesterday, when he froze that first beast. “You didn’t know about them before.”

Ritsu’s voice is soft, unsure. “No, I didn’t.” Bakugou throws the ball, and it’s revealed to have gone only a couple feet further than it had their very first day at Yuuei. “I guess I’ll need to update my data then.”

Aizawa explains that while their mental strength, combat skills, and stamina have all improved, their quirks themselves have not, and that was what they were going to change at the camp this week.

“It’s going to be intense. You might feel like you’re dying.” Aizawa smiles. “Let’s hope you survive.”

* * *

It’s the end of the third day of training, and dammit, Shouto is exhausted. He’s been using his quirk non-stop this whole time, and while he’s gotten much better at fine tuning his control, he still feels the strain, just like everyone else. 

Especially Midoriya, who’s looked tired and somewhat lost this whole time. Earlier today, Shouto had heard him talking to Aizawa about whether All Might would come to the camp. While Shouto knows what it’s like to be a big All Might fan, Midoriya had seemed particularly intense about it. 

It’s been a really long day, hasn’t it?” Ritsu wipes the digital sweat off her brow. “I’m so glad we get to rest now.” Ritsu had declared her desire to work on improving herself with everyone else that first day, and as far as Shouto knows, she’s spent the last two widening her searches, and finding all that she can on quirks.

“Right.” Shouto grabs his curry and starts heading over to Midoriya. “Except, what’s with the outfit? You didn’t need one for what you were doing.”

Ritsu pouts, picking at her very own Yuuei gym uniform. “I just wanted to fit in, that’s all.”

Shouto reaches Midoriya. “Did you need All Might for a particular reason? You asked Aizawa-sensei about him.” 

Midoriya looks away. “I did. Because of Kota.”

He frowns. “Kota? That kid with the Pussy Cats, right?”

“Yeah, that’s the one,” Midoriya sighs. “He’s over there right now…” He trails off as they both look in the direction Midoriya was indicating. There’s no sign of the spiky haired boy anywhere. “Hold on, where did he go?” 

He sighs and continues putting logs in his oven. “Anyways, Kota hates the idea of heroes. Not just that, but of quirks, and the whole superhero society in general. I tried to talk to him, but that seemed to just make things worse. I was just wondering what All Might would’ve done to help him, if he’d been here.” He turns to Shouto. “I mean, what would you say, Todoroki?” 

Shouto frowns, thinking. Then he sighs. “I don’t know. Sorry.”

He looks away as Midoriya mumbles his apologies, staring at the crescent moon hanging in the sky.

_That's strange. Wasn't it almost full yesterday?_

* * *

“Hey, I’m back!” Ritsu pops up on Nagisa’s screen as he and Kayano are walking home from school. “And boy do I have some interesting information for you.”

“Oh yeah?” Kayano asks. “You were going to go back onto Karma’s phone, right? See if you could talk to him over the break?”

“Yeah,” Ritsu agrees. “I’ve also learned a lot in these past three days, and finally got access to all that hero business those kids from Karma’s new school were talking about. Here, I’ve sent it to your phone, along with a video you’ll be really interested in, that I took at the camp. Remember how you said that creepy guy mentioned something about a quirk to you?”

How could he forget? “Yeah, I remember.” Nagisa pulls up the video, and Kayano leans in closer to get a better look. There’s some sort of monster rumbling through the trees, coming right at Karma. Nagisa expected that Karma would use the parkour they learned to scale up a nearby tree and away from the beast. What he doesn't expect was the burst of ice that came from Karma’s foot, covering the monster entirely, nor the blast of fire that came from his other arm, blowing the thing apart. It's pretty cool, but it looks entirely unnatural, coming from Karma.

“What was that?” Kayano breathed, finding her voice first.

“That was a quirk,” Ritsu informed them. “All those kids have one. Kaminari was blasting electricity everywhere, Iida was running super fast with engines in his legs, and all the beasts Uraraka touched started floating in the air. They all have powers, including Karma.”

And wasn’t that a terrifying concept: Karma with superpowers. Oh gods, Karma has _superpowers._ Nagisa can’t suppress a shudder. Kayano looks horrified. 

“There’s more,” Ritsu says grimly. “I got him to talk a little bit about his scar.”

Nagisa’s eyes widen. “Seriously? Do you know what happened to him?”

“From what he said, he got it when he was five.” Ritsu looks sad. “He said his father drove his mother into doing that to him, then locked her away.”

“That’s awful!” Kayano spits out. “But, five? That doesn’t make sense, he didn’t have any scars when we knew him in junior high. Are you sure you got the age right?”

“I’m positive,” Ritsu confirms. “He definitely said he was five.”

“And he mentioned it was his father’s fault?” Nagisa’s mind is racing. He remembers how Karma’s face looked back when Nagisa first found him, the dark look he got when talking about his father. He remembers his own suspicions about the man. “Do you have any more information on him?”

“Yes.” Ritsu pulled up another screen. “Endeavor, the flame hero. Ranked second best hero in Japan. They say he has four kids, but Karma’s the only one in the spotlight. The most I can find about his siblings is that one is in college, one is a teacher, and one died under mysterious circumstances.” She looks up at Nagisa. “You think he’s responsible for all of this?”

“Even if he is a hero, he sounds like a terrible person,” Kayano points out. “There’s a chance he has his own reasons for doing this.”

“Still, Nagisa murmurs. “If he really is behind it, and he really is a so-called “hero”, things just got a lot more complicated.”

* * *

** Bonus: **

It’s two o’clock when they arrive. Everyone is exhausted and out of energy, and they totally missed lunch, which really sucks, because Ochako is starving. Once there, the class is treated to Pixie Bob fawning over Midoriya, Iida, Bakugou, and Todoroki, and then their little kid Kota punches Midoriya right in the worst spots. 

“Kid thinks he’s an adult,” Bakugou smirks, clearly enjoying seeing Midoriya in pain.

“Reminds me a lot of you,” Todoroki snarks, face carefully blank.

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean!?” 

All in all, it’s a very tiresome morning. Ochako lugs all of her things off the bus, only to find that the girls room is frustratingly small. By the time she awakens from her nap, it’s dinner, and the first time they’ve gotten to eat since morning. Naturally, everyone stuffs their face. 

The baths are as relaxing as they possibly can be, especially considering their five hour trek through the woods today. 

And the next thing they know, there’s a massive commotion from the other side of the wall, where the boys are. Ochako can hear Aizawa yelling at the top of his lungs. She’s almost never heard him that angry before, and it’s almost frightening.

“What’s going on over there?” Tsuyu asks. “Should we be worried?”

Pixie Bob pops her head into the girl’s bath to inform them that everything ended up being fine, but one of their classmates, Mineta, was caught doing a deplorable act. He would be banned from the rest of the camp, and would be expelled when they went home.

No tears were shed that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A nice calm chapter where everything is peaceful, before it all starts going downhill with the attack on the training camp. How will all these small changes affect a big event like this?
> 
> Please leave a review, and tell me what you thought, or any theories you have! Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!


	6. An Even Worse Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Villains attack the training camp, everyone is just a bit too late, and Shouto gets the worst family reunion ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't guessed by the summary, I'm a big fan of the "Dabi is Todoroki Touya theory, so if he shows up in any of my stories, it's pretty much a given that this theory will be involved. That said, I hope you enjoy!

“Can’t believe I got stuck with Icyhot,” Bakugou mutters, glaring at Shouto. Shouto, used to the other’s foul temper, shrugs him off. “And that scare thing was so boring! I thought they were supposed to make us afraid!”

“You flinched at that girl in white,” Shouto points out dryly. Bakugou sputters at him.

“Yeah, well, so did you! Don’t pretend you were any better than me!”

“I never said I was. But I’m not the one going around pretending I wasn’t scared.” It’s always been far too easy to wind Bakugou up. To be honest, Shouto rather enjoys it, especially after seeing how the blond acts with Midoriya. “And you say you’re not childish.”

“YOU WANNA DIE, ICYHOT!?” Explosions light up Bakugou’s palms. Shouto turns away.

“Not really.” His mind flashes to Ritsu, who had partnered up with Midoriya so the boy wouldn’t have to go through the scare path alone. He wonders if the two are getting along well. They approach the end of the path and see everyone else gathered in the clearing. 

Pixie Bob sniffs the air. “What’s this foul smell?”

“Hey, do you see that?” Hagakure points upwards. There’s a blue glow coming from the forest, black smoke rising from the trees.

“Has something been set ablaze?” One of Shouto’s classmates wonders. From what Shouto can tell, it certainly looks that way. “Maybe a fire on the mountain?” 

Out of nowhere, and pink glow surrounds Pixie Bob, and she is flung backwards towards the bushes. A mad with a green lizard head, dressed in clothes that remind Shouto uncomfortably of Stain, bashes downwards with his weapon, knocking the hero unconscious. Blood trickles down her forehead. There’s a woman with glasses and casual clothes next to him.

“Pixie Bob!” Midoriya runs forward desperately, only to be blocked by Tiger and Mandalay.

“This is bad,” Mandalay mutters, looking forward with concern and apprehension. Midoriya seems to come to a horrifying realization. 

“Where’s Kota!?” He gasps.

Shouto frowns. “The kid?”

“What’s he talking about?” Bakugou snaps.

“How are you this evening, Yuuei high school?” The lizard man says. He seems to be smiling, although it’s hard to tell. “We are part of the Vanguard action squad, of the League of Villains!”

“The League of Villains!?” Ojiro gapes. “What are those guys doing here!”

“I could crush this kitties' head so easily,” the other villain says, her massive weapon on Pixie Bob’s head. “What about it dearies, should I?” Both of the bastards seem to be enjoying this far too much. 

“You get away from her!” Tiger snarls.

“Now now, hold on big sis mac.” The lizard man steps in between them. “You too, Tiger, calm down. When deciding whether someone should live or die, we must be careful that we’re abiding by Stain’s principals.”

“So you were the people who Stain inspired,” Iida growls. He looks absolutely furious.

“You do realize he wasn’t all that he was chalked up to be,” Shouto says. “Take it from someone who met him in person.” 

The lizard doesn’t seem to hear him, but he clearly hears Iida, glaring at him before announcing himself as Spinner, and pulling out a massive collection of weapons, all buckled together. Mandalay and Tiger resolve to fight Spinner and Mac, ordering them all to head back to camp. 

Bakugou snorts and turns back to the woods. “We need to go back in, those stupid villains are still in there. Can’t let the kids lucky enough to not have finished yet hog all the glory.”

“Yeah.” Seeing as Mandalay hasn’t realized they’ve returned yet, they can go back into the woods without getting in trouble. He turns and follows Bakugou.

* * *

Izuku runs as fast as he can, pushing One for All as much as he’s physically able to without breaking any bones. “Ritsu! Is there any way you can tell someone where we’re going?

Ritsu bounces around in his pocket. “I’ve got this phone’s contact list. I’ll alert everyone in this class to our location. Be careful!”

“Don’t worry, I will,” He reassures her, reaching the top of the cliffside.

Then everything goes to hell.

* * *

“Dammit,” Bakugou covers his mouth as they walk.

“There must be some sort of gas villain out here,” Shouto muses. He adjusts the 1-B kid wrapped around his shoulders. “I’m worried about those who are still deep in the forest, but it doesn’t look like there’s much we can do now. Let’s hope the ragdoll can take care of everyone else.”

“Dammit, when I went back in, I didn’t expect to fight fucking gas more than actual villains!” Bakugou mutters. “And don’t tell me what to do Icy- hey, who’s that?” There’s someone in dark clothing kneeling in front of them, someone they don’t recognize. “Who else was in the woods at this time? Right around us?”

“Tokoyami, I think,” Shouto answers. “And Shoji.” There’s blood on the ground. It’s from a hand. The villain hisses about how it wants to eat flesh, then turns around, and the only thing uncovered is his mouth.

“I have a job to do,” It hisses.

Bakugou grins. “No fighting. Is that the rule? Looks like we’re in a bit of a mess then.”

* * *

“We need to get back.” Izuku looks at the flames covering part of the forest, then down at Todoroki’s cracked phone. He knows Ritsu is an AI, but still, he hopes she’s okay. “Kota, get on my back. I’ll carry you down.”

“A-Are you sure?” Kota’s voice cracks. “Your arms-”

“Don’t worry. I left my legs unbroken for a reason.” With great pain and effort, he pulls Kota up onto his back. “Hold on, it’ll be a bumpy ride.” He jumps off the edge, Kota clinging onto him tightly. 

_I’ve got a bad feeling about this… _

* * *

_“Everyone in class A and class B! You have been granted permission by Eraserhead to use your quirks in combat! I repeat! You may fight these villains!”_

Mandalay’s voice echoes through Shouto’s head.

_“And listen, we’ve discovered one of the villain’s targets! Todoroki! You should try to avoid combat, and stick to a group.”_

“Me?” Shouto frowns. He has no idea what the villains would want with him. Revenge on his father, maybe? They went after the number one hero last time, were they going after the number two hero this time?

“Maybe our group could focus more if you stayed out of our heads!” Bakugou rushes at the villain, and Shouto blocks the villain’s attack with ice before they can land a hit, jagged pieces of… something landing everywhere.

“Don’t rush into this!” He snaps. 

“Shut up! If anyone shouldn’t be rushing into this, it’s you! You’re the one their after, remember? At least I get to finally let loose against these guys!” They dodge attack after attack of what seems to be sharp expandable teeth. It clearly isn’t the man’s first battle.

“We can’t start fires around here, or the flames could spread. We’re trying not to kill everyone here, remember?” Shouto snaps back. If he didn’t have to take care of the knocked out 1-B kid, he’s sure he could fight. As it is, he doesn’t want to put the kid down and have him be easy pickings, and he doesn’t trust Bakugou with him. 

“I get it, I’m not stupid! Fuck, there’s no where else we can go! We have to fight!” More teeth attacks, and Shouto covers the air above them with ice as much as he can. 

Something shakes the ground. Shouto looks to see heavy explosions coming towards them. Midoriya’s voice rings out: “There! I see ice, they’re fighting!” A few more seconds, and Shouto can see that he’s being carried by Shoji, who looks wide-eyed and terrified.

“Bakugou! Todoroki! One of you, give us some light!” The dark thing chasing them lunges, and Shoji is sent flying, Midoriya barely holding on. Dark shadow pins down the villain, and Shouto can see Tokoyami in the middle of it, looking like he’s in great pain. 

Shouto finally sets the unconscious student down, preparing to use his flames, but Bakugou holds out a hand to stop him._ Why… oh._ It would be easier if Dark Shadow finished the villain off first, so they didn’t have to deal with both at once. The toothy villain is demolished in front of their eyes, and Shouto and Bakugou go in with the fire, reducing Dark Shadow down to a manageable size. 

Tokoyami kneels on the ground, gasping for breath. 

“Still a terrible matchup for you, Bird-boy,” Bakugou says, which is an absolutely terrible one liner.

“Thanks you two,” Tokoyami says. “You saved me.” Shoji takes the time to comfort his friend while the rest of them ease the tension from their bodies. Shouto looks over the where the villain is lying down and ices him over, filling his mouth with ice, so that he won’t be able to use his quirk as soon as he wakes up. 

“I don’t know if you heard,” Midoriya says, “But like I told Mandalay, the villains are after Todoroki.” He looks at Shouto guiltily. “Your phone got broken by the villain I was fighting, I’m so sorry.” 

“It’s okay,” Shouto says.

“Ritsu…”

“She’s connected to a bunch of other phones.” (And a massive artillery unit, except he shouldn’t _know_ that.) “She’s probably worried, but she’ll be okay. She’s probably contacted others for help.”

“Who the fuck is Ritsu?” Bakugou snaps. Tokoyami and Shoji are looking at them curiously, and Shouto feels worry pool in his gut, which is odd, because he trusts them to a degree, and knows Ritsu can take care of herself.

“Later,” Midoriya says, the lifesaver. “I don’t know why they want Todoroki, but we should get back to camp. As long as Aizawa-sensei and Vlad King have regrouped there, it should be the safest place. 

Tokoyami nods. “Right, that makes sense. So our mission is to get Todoroki back to safety by serving as his protectors.” 

“It’s possible the Pussycats are still fighting in the clearing. Going that way would draw the attention of the villains, plus its longer. We should cut straight across the woods,” Midoriya decides. “We can use Shoji’s search ability to keep an eye out for villains, and if we need, we can use Dark Shadow, since Bakugou’s light can hold it back. 

Shouto wants to argue that he doesn’t need any protection, that he’ll be fine on his own. But seeing everyone’s faces, determined to help him, he finds that he can’t try and do this alone. _Besides_, he thinks, _going it alone would just be stupid at this point._

Shouto hears Tokoyami’s footsteps stop behind him, replaced by someone much taller and heavier. He can tell someone is reaching for him, and ducks on instinct, spinning around and grabbing the wrist of the tall man, throwing him as far as he can, then shooting ice his way.

The man flips into an upright position, before landing easily on a tree branch above them. “Such skill! I expected as much from a student such as yourself, Todoroki. Good job!” He claps his hands.

“Who the hell are you!?” Bakugou snaps.

“His villain name is Mr. Compress,” Midoriya says, eyes wide. “I’ve heard of him, but I don’t remember his quirk.”

“How nice of you to know my name!” Compress says. He’s wearing a long coat, fancy mask and hat, and completes the outfit with a cane. 

“Give us back Tokoyami!” Shoji snaps.

“Give him back? What an odd statement! Tokoyami doesn’t belong to anyone. Neither does Todoroki,” he then nods at Shouto, who tries to keep his expression composed. “We simply want to help broaden their horizons, remind them that there are other options than the hero society they are drowning in.” He rolls a teal sphere between his fingers. “At first, we were just after Todoroki, but I saw Tokoyami’s wonderful takedown of Moonfish, and thought that he’d be a wonderful addition to the troupe.”

“You bastard!” Bakugou snaps. “What makes you think we’ll let you get away with this! Come down here and fight, you fucking coward!” Explosions light up the night as he lunges at Compress, who nimbly dodges away. 

“Oh no, I’m much more of an escape artist than a fighter. I wouldn’t be so foolish as to fight Yuuei students.” His voice holds an air of arrogance, and it grates on Shouto’s nerves. Although, if you want him back, I suppose you’ll have to follow me.” Shouto watches him go for a moment, and then is sprinting after him, the others right behind, Bakugou now carrying the other injured student.

More footsteps join them. “What’s going on?” Uraraka asks. “Was that another villain?” Tsuyu is right behind her.

“They took Tokoyami,” Shouto says. “We have to get him back.”

“Todoroki, you should head back to camp,” Shoji looks him over. Shouto ignores him. “They’re after you too!”

“He let us see where he was going because he knew we would follow. More specifically, he knew you would follow,” Midoriya reveals. “If you chase after him, you’re walking into his trap!”

Shouto shakes his head. “I know. But Tokoyami only got captured in the first place because they were after me.” It’s been clawing at him this whole time, that everyone is getting injured because the villains are after him. “I can’t just sit back and do nothing.”

“You still need to be careful,” Tsuyu says. “If you’re coming.”

“Or you could all just stop talking and move faster!” Bakugou puts on the explosions, and they have to move quicker to keep up with him. “Here, Round-face, take the kid from the other class.”

“Why me!?” 

“Wait, no!” Midoriya corrects. “Shoji, I’m sorry, but can you hold more than one of us of us at once?”

“It’ll be tough, but I can do it,” Shoji agrees.

Midoriya winces in pain. “Okay. Uraraka, you make us float. Tsuyu, use your quirk to launch us as far as you can. Shoji, hold Todoroki and I tight. Kacchan, use your explosions to keep us propelled and correct our trajectory through the air.” 

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Bakugou snaps. But the fact that he didn’t criticize Midoriya’s plan means he’s listening. 

Uraraka uses her over shirt to wrap up Midoriya’s arms in splints. Then Tsuyu launches the four of them as fast as she can, Bakugou in back making them go even faster. They crash into Compress at high speed and slam down on the ground. 

“Give Tokoyami back to us!” Midoriya yells.

“You bastards!” Bakugou snarls. “We’ll tear you all to pieces!” 

“Wait, I know these guys!” One of the villains in the clearing points at them. Then his voice changes slightly. “Who are they?”

“Out of the way, Compress!” 

_That voice…_

Shouto’s almost too stunned to move as blue flames fly towards him. At the last second, he snaps out of it, grabbing Shoji and Midoriya and rolling out of the way, as Bakugou flies above the blast of fire. 

He _knows_ that voice. But where? 

The girl runs after Midoriya and the fully costumed man lunges for Shouto. He jumps out of they way, and the man spins around to face Bakugou.

“An injured boy and you. You’re on Shigaraki’s kill list!” Shouto is wiping his legs out from under him in a second, and Bakugou pounces. He rolls out of the way, and Shouto shoots off ice to the left, before tackling him from the right, only to jump away to avoid his sharp weapon.

“This is almost too easy. Hey man, cut me some slack!”

Bakugou scowles. “The fuck is with this guy?” 

“Everyone, we’re done here!” Shoji calls out. They all turn to him. He looks at compress. “You gave away your best trick. I’m guessing that marble had to do with your quirk.” He holds up the marble from earlier. “I’m guessing this is Tokoyami.” 

“But we can get them!” Bakugou snaps!

“No we can’t, we have to go!” Shouto grabs Bakugou by the wrist and runs over to Midoriya and Shoji, racing for the trees.

Something ugly and green appears from the shadows. “A nomu!” Midoriya gasps. They turn the other way, only to find the warp villain from the USJ stepping out of his own mist. More portals open up, and the villains jump through.

“Wait,” the fire guy says (He has blue flames and Shouto knows that voice-) “We’re not leaving without what we came for.”

With everything that’s been going on lately, with Nagisa and Ristu and Sugino and their friends, all this talk about “Karma” and missing memories, Shouto’s been spending a lot of time rooting through his brain, going over every detail he can of his past. As much as he hates to admit it, there’s been something about that strange group’s words that has him bothered, and rooting for answers.

Maybe it’s because of that, maybe he would have known anyways, but he when blue flames encircle him, separating him from his friends, Shouto freezes in place, looking at the face in front of him.

“Touya?”

Touya smiles, and then Shouto knows nothing. 

* * *

“NAGISA! NAGISA!” 

Nagisa jumps out of his seat, looking at his phone, were Ritsu has appeared, clearly more than a bit distressed. He had gotten a call from Sugino a little while ago, who had been contacted by Ritsu through Karma’s phone, saying he and his classmates had been attacked. She had tried to send their location, but something seemed to be blocking her ability to do so.

“Ritsu? What is it, what’s wrong!?” He asks.

“I was on Karma’s phone, but then it got broken by this serial killer that showed up, and even though they aren’t my classmates, just this once I uploaded myself on Iida’s phone because it looked like he was class rep so he would know the most about what was going on, and-”

Nagisa puts his hands up. “Woah, calm down! Did you say a murderer? What’s going on?”

Ritsu takes a deep breath. “Those villains Karma’s new class was talking about? The ones that attacked him at the mall the other day? They kidnapped Karma!” 

Nagisa feels the floor drop out from under him. After everything that had happened, after they had just found Karma again after months-

He takes a deep, shuddering breath. Panicking won’t help Karma, action will. “Right, contact everyone from 3-E, Karasuma-sensei, and Bitch-sensei. We’re getting him back. Now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Karma’s good. Shouto’s good. But seeing your long lost and supposedly dead brother can cloud your judgement for a moment. 
> 
> So. Cliffhanger, I guess. Oh well! Hope you enjoyed, and please review to let me know what you liked, or any theories you have!


	7. The Gang's (Almost) All Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Class 3-E and 1-A all meet up for the first time, and start disagreeing almost instantly. Luckily, many of them are bound by a common goal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ll be the first to admit that this chapter was rushed. You’re not here to hear about my personal life, so I won’t get into it, but finishing a chapter in this story was something I really needed to do today. Any errors in grammar and spelling will be corrected later, I assure you.
> 
> All that being said, I hope you enjoy!

Eijiro looks up at the hospital in front of him, trying to will himself to move. It’s weird, ‘cause it’s not like he’s scared of hospitals or anything. And some of his friends and classmates are in there, seriously hurt. He’d be the least manly person ever if he didn’t go and visit them.

Still, his nerves are on fire at the moment, and all he can think about is the fact that he stayed safe in the camp while his friends risked their lives, and Todoroki was captured. He didn’t take down any villains, didn’t contribute anything to the fight. Just stood there and worried.

Sure, it’s hard to say what he could do. Todoroki, Bakugou, and Midoriya had what were probably the most powerful quirks of their class, and even with all three of them fending off the villains together, Todoroki still got captured. If they couldn’t defeat the villains, then what chance did Eijiro have? 

Still, he should’ve done _something_, should’ve helped in some way. And now Todoroki was in the villain’s hands. 

Eijiro steels his courage. It’s just a trip to the hospital, nothing more. He can go see his friends and - and apologize to them, for not being there when they needed him. It’s the manly thing to do. With that thought in his mind, he takes a deep breath and enters the hospital.

Almost immediately after he enters, an unfamiliar voice calls out: “Kirishima Eijiro?” Eijiro turns to find a plain dark-haired, blue-eyed boy jogging up to him. “Is that you?”

“Yeah.” Eijiro regards the newcomer curiously. He looks familiar, somehow. “Sorry, have we met?”

“Not in person.” The other boy looks nervous. “My name’s Sugino, I’m friends with Kaminari and Yao - and Yaoyorozu.” _Oh._ No wonder he looks so stressed out. Eijiro wonders if Sugino has been to see Yaoyorozu yet.

“Now that you mention it, Kaminari told me about you once,” he recalls. “Said you were a really nice guy.” He sticks out his hand. “Nice to meet you!”

Sugino lets out a small laugh and they shake. “Same here. I was heading up to Yaoyorozu’s room to see her, want to go together?”

“Sounds like a great idea!” It’s cowardly, but he doesn’t want to admit how relieved he is to not have to go alone. Sugnio leads him up a couple flights of stairs, and towards a door that has Yaoyorozu’s name on it. It’s open, and there are voices coming from inside. Eijiro and Sugino both pause at the door to listen in. 

Yaoyorozu’s voice seeps out through the door. “With the assistance of Awase from class B, I attached a tracking device to one of the villains.” Eijiro peers into the room to see that she’s talking to All Might and some police officer. She holds up a small phone-like device. “This is the creation that will receive that signal.” She hands it to All Might. “I hope it helps.”

All Might seems to look at the device. “Previously,” he starts, “Aizawa said you lacked the self-confidence and judgement needed to make quick decisions. Well, look how much you’ve grown! You have our thanks, Yaoyorozu.” 

Yaoyorozu looks down. “With a classmate still in danger, it’s frustrating that I can’t help you more than this.” Maybe Eijiro is imagining it, but he thinks he sees Sugino wince. 

“That painful feeling is proof that you are a true hero,” All Might assures her. “Please don’t worry, you can leave the rest to us!” 

With that, he and the police officer start to leave the room, and Eijiro and Sugino scamper down another hallway to avoid being caught eavesdropping.

Sugino’s eyes are bright. “That’s perfect!”

Eijiro blinks. “What is?” The other boy waves his hands around.

“The tracking device! We can find Todoroki with that!” He pauses to consider Eijiro, who shifts awkwardly under his piercing gaze. “Don’t tell me you guys aren’t even going to try and rescue him.” 

“I can’t say I haven’t been thinking about it,” Eijiro admits. “But why do you care so much? You’ve only meet him a couple times, right? And you’re not even going to a hero school. Wouldn’t it be better to leave it to heroes?”

“And just sit back?” Sugino looks furious, but not at him. “I can’t do that, not again. Heroes be damned, we’re saving our friend!”

“_We?_” Suspicion flares in Eijiro’s mind. “Look, if there’s something you’re not telling us… Kaminari said the first time any of my classmates met you was in a café, but you’re acting like you and Todoroki are old friends or something. What’s really going on here?” 

Sugino pauses, looking awkward. He seems to consider his words. “That… wasn’t the first time I’ve met him. Todoroki, I mean.” He looks away. “It’s really complicated. Probably a story for everyone to share.” 

It’s odd, but Eijiro gets the feeling that whatever it is that Sugino’s hiding, it’s going to change _everything_. For better or worse, he can’t say. But still, he agrees. “Alright. Everyone’s coming tomorrow to visit Midoriya, so we can all talk then.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Sugino smiles, but he looks tired and apprehensive. “I’m going to go check on Yaoyorozu now. Are you coming?”

Eijiro hesitates, because he kind of wants to end the conversation now. Continuing to talk to Sugino right after promising to meet up later sounds kind of awkward. “I’m going to visit Midoriya, actually. I’ll see you later.”

* * *

When Izuku finally awakens for good, he’s in the hospital, both of his arms completely bandaged up. He stares hazily at the ceiling. 

_Kota. Is he okay? _

There’s a knock on the door, and Kaminari peers his head in. “Hey, Midoriya! Good, you’re finally awake! Did you see the news? Reporters are all over the school right now.” He steps in the room, many of their classmates behind him-

Izuku squints. There’s a lot more people here than there are in his class. He sees Nagisa, Kayano, Maehara, Sugino, Isogai, and Okuda from the other day, but they’re just a few of the many people now filling up the room. The strangers seem to make themselves at home, sitting in the chairs near his bed, or relaxing against the wall. 

“You look like you’ve seen some things since we last met,” Maehara quirks an eyebrow. “How are you holding up?”

“I caused you trouble, Midoriya,” Tokoyami says. “I’m sorry.” 

Izuku would shake his head, but he doesn’t really have the energy. “No, please. I did this to myself.” He looks around again. “Is everyone from class A here? And, who are all these other people?”

Iida shakes his head. “Ah, Jiro and Hagakure are still out. They were knocked unconscious by the poisonous gas. And Yaoyorozu took a pretty bad hit to the head. She’s hospitalized here, though I just found out she finally woke up yesterday. And, ah, Bakugou is off sulking somewhere.” Not that Izuku expected him by his bedside anyways.

“So from our class, there’s just thirteen of us,” Shoji said. “Todoroki is still missing.”

_Todoroki._

“He knows, Shoji!” Mina snapped. 

_Todoroki! _

Izuku feels his head clear, memories flashing through his mind of how he failed to save his friend. He was right there, stretching out his hand, and he missed. He couldn’t save him, was just a few seconds too late. 

“All Might told me that there will always be people we can’t save, that we need to protect the ones we can.” He feels tears welling up in his eyes, but he can’t wipe them away. “I was so close to being able to save him.” Aizawa had told him at the beginning, how he was useless if he could be taken out after just one punch. Tears spill down his face. “I couldn’t save someone who was right in front of me - and now - he’s gone.” 

“That’s why we’re here,” Nagisa says softly. There’s anger in his voice, a familiar fury._ A familiar killing intent._ “We’re going to get him back.”

Izuku looks around the room, at the strangers. They all seem relaxed, but there’s a tenseness in their bodies, one that he recognizes from seeing his hero teachers work. He can see now why Iida recognized Stain in Nagisa. They may be unarmed, but this group of kids their age is _dangerous_. 

“You know more than you’re letting on,” Iida accuses. “You always have.”

“You promised you tell us everything, now that we’re all here,” Eijiro says quietly. Izuku wonders when they made that promise.

“I did,” Sugino agrees. “It’s pretty complicated, and quite a bit unbelievable.”

Kaminari shrugs that off. “We’re heroes. We can handle the unbelievable.”

As a whole, the group seems to turn to Isogai, who steps forward, apparently acting as their spokesperson. “About three or so months ago, one of our friends and classmates from last year went missing. There was no sign of him, no trace of where he’d gone. We and our friends searched everywhere, but couldn’t find him.” He turns to Nagisa, who seems to understand, and holds up Ritsu. “At some point, Ritsu developed a program that would let her scan everyone within a localized area, to see if our friend was there.”

Ritsu nods. “My scan starts out wide, immediately eliminating people within the search area who don’t meet certain requirements, then make those requirements more and more specific until the only person left in the scan would be our friend.”

“Woah!” Mina looks at Ritsu curiously. “Is that an actual AI?”

“Yup!” Ritsu smiles at her. “My name is Ritsu, it’s nice to meet you!” A murmuring passes through Izuku class, before Ritsu continues. “Anyways, my program narrows everything down to not just DNA, but also injury patterns, and just about everything else needed to identify a specific person.”

“And Todoroki fit the bill,” Tokoyami summarized. “Right down to the DNA.”

“But… what? He doesn’t remember?” Tsuyu looks skeptical. “I dunno, that seems kind of fishy to me.”

“You scanned his DNA!?” Iida looks horrorstruck. Izuku’s having trouble comprehending all of this himself.

“Hang on.” He thinks back to their meeting at the mall, before Shigaraki came and attacked Todoroki. “The last time we met, none of you knew what superheroes were, even though Todoroki’s dad is a superhero. And you guys said something about the moon that didn’t make sense to any of us. Have we considered some sort of alternate universe angle? Maybe Todoroki really isn’t the one you’re looking for.”

“Honestly, that sounds way more far-fetched,” Ojiro mutters.

“That’s where the whole “injuries” thing comes in,” Okuda says. “He has the exact same injuries as before. Even if they were alternate versions of each other, they’d still have different injuries, because they lived different lives.”

“And where else would he have gotten those martial arts skills from?” Ritsu points out. “We learned all of that last year in class.”

“Wait, really?” At this, Ochako butts into the conversation, eyes alight. “That - he always seemed really confused when I asked him where he learned all those moves. He even told me once that he wasn’t sure, they were just there one day.”

Kaminari jumps in to defend his new friends. “So maybe they are telling the truth!”

“Of course we are!” Kayano insists passionately. “We want to help our friend! And even if he wasn’t our friend, we couldn’t just sit back and let villains take him!”

“Wait, so you’re really planning on some sort of rescue mission?” Ojiro looks skeptical. “Shouldn’t we leave that to the pros?” 

“The so-called “pros” can’t seem to do anything right,” one of the people Izuku doesn’t know, who has grey hair, waves him off. “We’ve trained for far worse.”

Kirishima rubs his forehead. “Geez. What kind of training did you people go through?” The others don’t answer, but exchange the small smiles of those who have some old, big secret to hide. “Of course we’ll help you out. Todoroki’s our classmate, we can’t just leave him to those monsters.” 

“Now, hang on a minute!” Iida looks to be at the end of his rope. “We can’t just go around doing what we want! We should listen to All Might and leave this to the professionals!” He points at the other group. “And you people aren’t even heroes!”

“No, but we’re pretty much professionals at this point,” Isogai looks Iida straight in the eye. “We know how to do these things, how to make them work.”

“Plus, we’ve got some pros of our own to call in for backup in case things go south!” One of the girls says cheerfully. “They work with the Ministry of Defense, and they’ll also help us if anyone tries to get on our case about this.”

“We were useless when the villains attacked, stuck in the camp,” Kirishima growls. He looks more angry with himself than anyone else. “I can’t just sit back again. How can I call myself a hero if I do?”

“Not so loud man, we’re in a hospital.” Kaminari folds his arms. “If we want to plan this out, we should go where no one can hear us.”

“Then you’re in?” Sugino asks.

Kaminari laughs. “Course I am! It’s like Kirishima said, I was pretty helpless during the camp. I don’t want to be that way anymore. Besides, it sounds like you guys have put a lot of thought into this. That means we’ll have a much more solid plan than if we just went off on our own.”

“Count me in to!” Uraraka steps forward. “What kind of heroes would we be if we cared more about getting in trouble with teachers than helping others?”

Those words seem to do the trick with their class. Everyone seems to steel their resolve, nodding at the floor or at each other. 

“The villains were definitely aiming to kill some of us,” Tokoyami says. “They took Todoroki alive, but we don’t know how long they’ll let him live. We need to rescue him now.”

“Deku’s notebook will probably help.” Izuku jerks in surprise at everyone looks at Uraraka, then at him. “You’ve kept notes on all those villains and their quirks, haven’t you?”

“Yeah.” Izuku avoids everyone’s eyes. “It’s not like I went against everyone though. I didn’t get everything down.”

“We can cross-reference with internet searches on the different perps,” One of the other group suggests. “Make sure we know everything we can before heading in.” 

Maehara looks thoughtful. “Have a main team and a backup team. A group running recon, someone monitoring behind the scenes.” He seems to shudder. “We can’t be grouped all in one place. We don’t want a repeat of the reaper incident.” Everyone who knows about this incident seems to heartily agree. 

“Hang on guys,” Tsuyu interrupts. “Think about this rationally. If you go out there, looking for bad guys, knowing you’re breaking the rules, then you’re acting like villains do, not like heroes.”

“I didn’t realize being a hero meant only trying to save others when your own social standing isn’t at risk.” They all spin towards the voice. There’s another boy, one Izuku didn’t notice before, with white hair in a headband, and burning eyes. “If that’s the case, then thank the gods our world didn’t have any heroes in it. The Earth would’ve been destroyed over a year ago, because the so-called heroes would only be thinking about doing what they’re told. Like government puppets.”

“Itona,” Isogai says softly. Itona scoffs, but doesn’t say any more, glaring at Izuku’s class with those burning eyes. Isogai turns back to them. Holding out his arms in an open gesture. “If you don’t want to help us, that’s okay. We appreciate any information we can get though, because we do plan on saving our friend.”

“No way! Out of the question.” Iida glares at Isogai. “You - you don’t understand.” He’s shaking, clenching his fists. Izuku wants to comfort him, but he isn’t sure how. “I done this before. Gone after a villain for vengeance… it was the stupidest mistake I ever made!” He looks around at them. “Yuuei is in a bad enough position as it is, without us messing it up even more.”

He takes a breath. “I’m frustrated too. And angry! Todoroki is my friend! But what if by trying to go and save him, we make it even worse? And what if we lose more classmates?”

“And what if we don’t go?” They all turn to Izuku. He tries not to let the number of eyes on him keep him from speaking. “What if we don’t go, and he dies because we weren’t there?” 

“Listen Iida,” Nagisa’s voice may be soft, but Izuku can hear the steel underneath. “My class is going no matter what. Sugino talked with Yaoyorozu yesterday, and she agreed to help us by making another tracker. We know it’s foolish to rush in, and so we won’t. We’ll play it smart, play it stealthy. We’re good at that. You don’t have to come, but we’re going no matter what you say.”

Most of the class looks away, but Uraraka, Kaminari, Kirishima, and Tokoyami all nod in agreement. Izuku steadies his own resolve. Todoroki is one of his best friends, and one of the first friends he’s had since he was little. And Izuku had_ failed _him. And he knows, deep down, he’ll never be able to consider himself a hero if he can’t even muster the courage to help his friend.

Iida looks them over and sighs. “I can’t convince you, can I?”

“Nope!” Kayano says cheerfully.

“Fine._ Fine_.” He looks away, then looks back, eyes filled with determination. “Then I’m coming with you.” Once the initial shock of the statement is over, Izuku can’t help but smile.

“My place is near here. We’re going to plan out our strategy there.” The speaker is another girl, with brown hair in a ponytail. “Anyone who’s in on the mission can join us. Ritsu can send the address.” The AI gives a thumbs up.

The doctor knocks on the door, and the two classes file out. Izuku goes through the motions, hears what he has to say about his arms. 

And all he can think about is Todoroki.

_Don’t worry, Todoroki. We’re coming for you._

* * *

**Two Days Earlier:**

Shouto comes into consciousness slowly, then all at once. He sits up, finding himself and a small dark room, ankles and hands clamped together. 

He examines the cuffs. They’re quirk restrainers, as he expected. So he really did get captured.

His first thought about that is: _I got captured? Seriously? Me!?_ His next thought is mentally hitting himself for sounding so egotistical. 

He’s still trying to wrap his head around the fact that _Touya_ was the one who captured him. Touya, his supposedly dead older brother. Who seemed to have done some serious remodeling on his face while he was gone, and not it the good way.

What happened to him? Why didn’t he ever tell Shouto or their other siblings that he was alive? Did Fuyumi and Natsuo know? Why did he join the League of Villains? Why did he capture Shouto?

(Did it have to do with Karma?) (No No No _Shut up_-)

The door slides open, and Touya is standing right there, grinning down at him. Shouto tries to think of something clever to say. He thinks up a long speech that boils down to “What the hell were you thinking? Sure, the old man is horrible, but the villains are worse!” He debates the merit of saying something along the lines of “Oh how far you’ve fallen.”

Instead of any of that, what comes out of Shouto’s mouth is: “What the _fuck_, Touya?”

Touya laughs, and it sounds so much like it used to that it makes Shouto’s heart ache. “Hey there little brother. We’ve got a lot to catch up on.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More people in 1-A have joined the rescue mission, due to the fact that there's a group of people saying they have a good plan, pointing out the hypocrisy of refusing to help others if it get you in trouble, but calling yourself a hero, and saying all of this with the confidence of people who actually know what they're doing. All of this means that Kaminari, Uraraka, and Tokoyami have joined the canon group on the rescue mission!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed, and please review, let me know what you liked, and/or any theories you have!


	8. Two Very Long Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shouto and Touya talk, Touya give unreliable explanations, and Shouto has to finally face reality. Featuring: villains and awkward brotherly bonding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween everyone!
> 
> This chapter was actually going to be a lot more serious at first. Didn't seem to work out that way. Should be noted beforehand that Touya is an unreliable narrator, and everything he says must be taken with a grain of salt. 
> 
> Anyways, onto the story! Time to see what Shouto's been up to these past few days.

Shouto watches as Touya leans back against the door. His mind is still reeling from everything that’s been happening, but if Touya has some of the answers, than Shouto’s going to make sure he catches every word. 

“Can’t stay long for now,” Touya says, listening outside the door to something Shouto can’t hear. “Looks like the boss is about to stop on by. Be careful with your words, everyone here’s got a bad temperament of sorts.” He smirks. “And when everyone’s around, call me Dabi. I’ll be back later, we can talk then.”

“Wait, hang on-” Shouto tries to draw him back, but Touya is already out the door, and now he can hear someone else approaching.

What should he do? Touya might be is only ally in this place, and that’s extremely tentative; he did help kidnap Shouto in the first place after all. Shouto’s quirk is restrained, his ankles and hands are cuffed together, and if he wanted to get out, he’d have to go through numerous villains with powerful quirks. Escaping isn’t an option at the moment. 

_Breathe_. Shouto knows someone will be coming for him. And even before then, plenty of opportunities to escape may present themselves. In the meantime, it would be best if he keeps on the villains good sides. They might even lower their guard around him enough for Shouto to make his move. 

So when Shigaraki steps into the room, followed by Spinner, Shouto smiles at them both. “Long time no see, Shigaraki. I don’t suppose there’s a real point to me being here? This is a lot of trouble to go to if you’re using me as ransom, so I’m guessing more along the lines of bait?”

“Sorry, that’s wrong too,” Shigaraki says. “You’re smart, but you’re thinking too much like a hero.”

Shouto shrugs his shoulders. He would put his arms into the shrug, except they’re cuffed together. “Comes with growing up with the number two hero as a father, I guess. Can you blame me?”

_Try and relax. Shigaraki liked the smile and the sharp edges, go with that. Don’t make any damning promises. Stay alive until Touya can explain the situation better._

“Tch. How awful.” Shouto tries not to scoff at Shigaraki’s words, because he doesn’t know the half of it. “We’ll now you have the chance to escape that life for good.” Shigaraki holds out his hand, as though inviting him towards a grand future. The effect is ruined by the man’s creepiness. “Todoroki Shouto, we’d like you to join the League of Villains.”

…. 

..._What? _

Shouto can’t help but balk at those words, but tries to keep his emotions in check. It’s difficult, they’re swirling around inside him, threatening to burst open. It takes almost all his effort to remain composed. “That’s a bit sudden. You think I’d agree to abandon everything I’ve worked for, just like that?”

“You think so?” Shigaraki smiles, or at least it looks as though he does. Hard to tell with the hand on his face. “I think it’s the perfect time! You understand more about this rotten, corrupt, world, I can tell. And Sensei’s taken an interest in you. You should really be grateful.”

Sensei? Well, he always figured Shigaraki was working for someone. He never seemed the type to be in charge of these things. Shouto wonders just who this mysterious “Sensei” is. 

“I guess this world can suck, sometimes.” He admits. _Keep it simple. Tell the truth but omit whatever will throw him off. _“Sometimes it feels like everything could collapse any day now.” He pretends to deliberate. “But - I think there’s still enough good in the world to keep working for it.” He would never just straight up join, or even agree with everything Shigaraki says, that would be unbelievable. “I’m not ready to stop fighting for it just yet.”

“Suit yourself,” Shigaraki waves him off. “I’m sure you’ll change your mind, soon enough.” Shouto watches as the door closes behind the villains, cloaking him in darkness. 

He needs to wait for Touya, needs to make a plan. He should get started on this right away. Instead, Shouto wastes precious time trying to control his gasping breath. 

He can keep this act up for longer, he knows. It comes so easy to him, it almost doesn’t feel like and act. Honestly it’s a bit frightening. But he’s walking a fine line. If he oversteps his boundaries, tips them off to his real feelings in any way, or maybe even just pisses Shigaraki off, he’s a goner. 

_Breathe.  
_

* * *

Touya returns later in the day, locking the door behind him and sitting down across from Shouto. Shouto wonders what he did or said for them to be able to talk in private, or if Touya just has that much of the League’s trust. Truthfully, he hopes that it’s the former. 

“So, Shouto,” Touya starts, grinning at him. “It’s been a little while, hasn’t it? You’re looking well.”

Shouto glares at him. “_A little while!?_ I haven’t seen you in years! I thought you were dead! What the hell, Touya?”

Touya’s smile morphs into a frown, and Shouto wonders if he pushed some button on his older brother, one he didn’t know was there. But no - Touya looks angry, sure, but he also looks really sad.

“You don’t remember, do you?” He asks softly. The anger is there, in his voice. Fire sparks across his palms. “What did they do to you?”

“Remember what?” Shouto doesn’t like where this is going, because it sounds suspiciously like what - like what those other kids were saying about him being called “Karma”, that he has missing memories even though he can remember almost all of the past few years.

Should… should he mention Karma? Even if there’s a part of him insisting that he can trust those other kids, he’s always been wary. But Touya is his older brother, and even if he was working with the League for some reason, the four Todoroki siblings had been through so much, there was a bond there, one he didn’t quite have with anyone else.

“Remember Karma,” Touya says, and Shouto-

And he- 

_Fuck. _

He’s managed to push the traitorous thoughts that Nagisa and Sugino and Ritsu and the rest of them might be right, but this is Touya. Touya, who has no connection with those other kids, who’s probably never met them in his life, and if he’s calling Shouto Karma, then-

Shouto breathes. In and out. Touya is watching him, and Shouto isn’t sure if that expression is one of concern or curiosity. 

“People have been calling me Karma,” he finally admits. “I’m not sure - it doesn’t make much sense.” Except some of it does, and that’s the most terrifying part. “You could ask Fuyumi - I’ve been at home this whole time, I don’t remember ever being someone else.” 

“...I’m not that surprised, I guess.” Touya sighs. “But you weren’t “someone else”. "Karma" is you. It’s just the name you gave yourself. Even if it is pretty edgy.” He snickers. “Guess that’s why you don’t leave a twelve year old in charge of naming himself.” 

The flash of irritation that follows at his words is entirely familiar. Shouto glares at him, and he just laughs harder.

Seeing as his death stares still have no effect on his oldest brother, Shouto sighs and looks away. So the other kids were right, when they called him Karma. 

...Gods, that’s strange. That there’s a part of him he doesn’t know about, a life he’s lived that he doesn’t remember. Something twists in Shouto’s gut, making him feel slightly ill. If he can’t remember huge swaths of his own life, how much does he even know about himself? And it still doesn’t explain his own memories!

“So how did this happen?” He finally asks. He must’ve been silent for longer than he thought, because Touya seems to jolt out of his own musings. “I mean, you seem to know about this whole “Karma” thing pretty well.”

“I would, I was there for it.” Touya grins. “It’s a pretty long story though. Maybe some other time, I’ve got to head out before the idiots get suspicious.” 

“Hang on, you can’t just-” Touya pats him on the head, and while he’s pissed because he can’t swat him away with the cuffs on his arms, Shouto’s even more infuriated because he knows Touya’s probably trying to rile him up.

“Chill out Shou. Don’t get your pants in a twist, I’ll be back.” He smiles like the bastard he is and leaves the room. 

_Dammit. _Shouto was so happy to see his brother again he didn’t think about what an utter bastard Touya was. Dammit. 

He can’t help but smile. A genuine one this time, he thinks.

* * *

Shigaraki returns, and Shouto doesn’t want to deal with him, because he’s sort of had his life and memory turned upside-down, and he really isn’t in the mood to play games with the villains. But that doesn’t matter, because the other option is death. So he sympathizes and plays nice and refuses to join the League once again, but makes himself sound more hesitant this time. Let the bastard think he’s gaining ground.

When Shigaraki is walking out the door, Shouto decides to spring the question. “You mentioned someone named “Sensei” before. Any chance he’s around here?”

Shigaraki waves him off. “He’s got other things to do. But that doesn’t mean he’s not interested. He really likes you, and it’s no surprise why. You’ve already been a great help.” He closes the door before Shouto can ask what that means, leaving him to sort out what that means, to fight through the worry those words bring.

He hasn’t helped the villains, there’s no way. Not intentionally. He wouldn’t.

(Would _Karma?_) (No, Shigaraki made it sound like he was helping them right now, as Shouto.) (But-)

Shouto needs to get out of here. But first, he needs answers.

* * *

Touya comes back the next morning with a sandwich, just as Shouto’s stomach rumbles loudly. He smirks and shoves it into Shouto’s mouth, who glares at him and eats the whole thing without using his hands because he’s not giving Touya the satisfaction ever.

“That’s pretty impressive,” Touya snickered, sitting down by him again. 

“You’ll find I’m full of surprises,” Shouto deadpanned. “Now, about what you were going to tell me yesterday. The long story.” 

“Yeah. Guess I have to now.” Touya ran a scarred hand through his hair. “Surprisingly enough for this family, it didn’t start with the old man. It started with the actual fucking government, or at least a branch of it.

“Turns out they had some experiments going on, pertaining to different universes and the like. They made contact with another world, and figured out how to get there - and don’t ask me how, because I sure as hell don’t know - and had someone looking out for lab rats to go there for them. Started out with homeless and street rats, which was how I found out, but by the time I snuck in to check it out, they were pitching you in there.”

“Seriously?” It… made sense. The oddness of Ritsu and company not knowing what quirks were, not knowing about heroes, seeing completely different internets. “But why me? It would make a lot more sense to use someone whose parent wasn’t a famous hero.”

Touya shrugs. “Who knows? My best guess, they wanted someone who they knew had a strong quirk. Besides, the old man might be a hero, but he’s still subject to the government. Not like he could do much to them.”

“Anyways, I went in after you, and what do you know, we were in another world. Dyed our hair, you covered up the scar, changed our names, the whole deal. Whatever the bastards did to you messed you up pretty bad, so there was that issue to deal with.” _And what the hell does that mean? _“Anyways, we ended up spending three years in that world.” 

“Just like that?” _Forgive me for being skeptical. _It isn’t as though Shouto doesn’t want to believe him, but his story just sounds so… unbelievable.

If Touya is aware of his doubts, he doesn’t call him out on it. “Yeah, just like that. Soon after your third year of junior high ended, something seemed to break down, and...” He seems to pause, and there is obviously something there Touya doesn’t want to say. “...and we ended up back here. You were under the old man’s thumb, the government had caused this whole mess in the first place, and the heroes had done nothing about it.” He grins. “So I joined up with some people who hate them all as much as I do.” 

“Bullshit.” Touya looks at him, surprised. “I get being pissed at the world, but you honestly thought the villains could make anything better, you’re an idiot.” _And I know you’re hiding something, asshole. Being your brother means I can see through more of your bullshit. _

“You misunderstand.” Touya laughs, and it’s ugly. “I don’t give a shit about making the world a better place. What has the world ever done for us? First our family was broken by our so-called “hero” father, then the government pitched you into another world. I don’t want to _fix _these things, I want them to _burn._” He stands. “Think about it Shou.”

* * *

A part of him says that what Touya tells him is the truth. That what Nagisa and Ritsu and Sugino were saying is the truth, even if he can’t remember. Maybe he should remember - does he really want to remember? Touya did say he was messed up somehow as Karma. But the kids his age seemed to really like him… Shouto’s head spun. He had so much information, and no idea how much of it was true, or what he should even do with it.

But _Fuyumi_. She would have told him if he was missing in another world for three years. Shouto trusted Touya, although much less so than he used to, but he always trusted Fuyumi more. She was the one who was always there for him, even when no one else was. She would have told him, he’s sure of it. And Natsuo. There was no way their middle brother would hide something like that. 

So maybe - (_goddammit_) - maybe he was Karma. Somehow. But that didn’t mean anything at the moment. He was Todoroki Shouto, for better or for worse, and this - this didn’t mean anything. It didn’t change who he was. (Right?)

And he still has questions. Lots of them, ones that Touya couldn’t or wouldn’t answer. Shouto was going to get the answers, no matter what. That he promised himself.

* * *

“So Akabane is still with the League of Villains at the moment?” A lone figure watches the news, a small smile upon his face. He knows it won’t be for much longer. Class 3-E is good, the heroes hunting the villains down are good, and even if they are his allies for now, he knows the League isn’t quite prepared for what’s coming.

“I suppose I should keep watch. Make sure he doesn’t die anytime soon. Don’t know what’ll happen to me if he does.” His smile widens. “He was the one who brought me back to life, after all. Guess his precious class was good for something after all.” 

The Reaper savors his new breathes. He’ll need all that he can for round two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Shouto has finally realized those weird kids aren't lying! And we're finally getting more information! But how much of it is true? And can Touya even really be trusted? What do Fuyumi and Natsuo have to say about the whole thing? And of course, what's up with that ending!? So many questions!
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, and please leave a review, tell me what you liked, or what theories you have!


	9. The First Clash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plan to rescue Shouto/Karma is put into action, and it goes off without a hitch! ...Sort of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm on a roll with these things! I know it's late, but I just had to get this out tonight. One more chapter, and then the kidnapping arc will be done, I promise. Then we can move on to some of the more juicy stuff. For now, I hope you enjoy!

Karasuma skims over the report on his computer, not truly seeing it for what it is. It’s funny - a bit over a year ago, there was nothing that could distract him from his work when he put his mind to it. Now, all he can think about are the kids he spent a year with and - dare he say it - grew to deeply care for. 

Well, them and another person. 

Irina walks into his office, perching on his desk in that way she always does. It’s odd, Karasuma reflects. He’d always thought he’d spend his days alone. His parents always did say he was married to his work. And yet Irina steamrolled her way into his life, plowing through his walls until he couldn’t help but admit he felt for her. The children were much the same way, he muses.

“You’re worried,” Irina says softly. “Not just for Karma, but for all of them. I get it; we don’t know nearly enough about these so-called villains. They could be walking to their deaths.” She studies him a moment longer, then looks away. “Are you sure it was a good idea, green-lighting their mission? Shouldn’t we have just done it ourselves?”

“I trust those kids,” Karasuma says simply. “They did take down the octopus in the end, remember? Besides, it had to be them. You heard their story, how these villains and heroes seem to be from another world, one that seems to be slowly merging with our own.” He holds up his phone. “Not to mention - all the kids can now access that other internet. You and I still can’t. They have a much better chance of success.”

Irina huffs. “I still don’t like it.” Neither does Karasuma, honestly. His mind keeps returning to Takaoka and the Reaper. Takaoka’s out of commission, of course, and the Reaper is dead, but his bad feeling lingers. 

“I trust them,” he repeats. “I’m sure they’ll pull this off.”

* * *

It’s a two pronged attack, the one they have planned.

Because of Ritsu’s information gained by her new connection with the world of heroes, they know that the pros will be striking in two locations: the one Momo’s tracker discovered, and a supposedly abandoned bar. Luckily, there are enough of them to split in two groups, with Ritsu keeping everyone informed of each other’s movements. 

The trick is to sneak in and out, either before the pros arrive, or while their distracting the villains, depending on how fast each group reaches their location. It works best that way: the pros can take down the villains without worrying about a hostage, and Karma can say he snuck out on his own before the heroes arrived. 

It’s a good plan. They’ve got detailed layouts of each building, poured over escape routes and possible hiding places all day long. Mimura, Okuda, Takabyashi, and Yaoyorozu have been out scouting, videoing each location and reporting back with their findings.

It’ll work. Isogai knows it. They can’t afford to fail. Karma can’t afford for them to fail. 

He turns to his group, stationed in the best hiding spot they could find, behind the bar. Half of his class is there, along with Momo, Iida, and Tokoyami (whose head would would think Isogai would be able to wrap his head around, considering Korosensei, but he can’t quite manage it). 

It’s a good group. Isogai has faith in his and his classmate’s skills, and the heroes in training have the advantage of actual frickin’ superpowers. They can pull this off. They _can._

(His stomach turns, and he can’t help but look to Maehara for support. His best friend smiles encouragingly, and he knows he can do this.)

“Everybody ready?” He asks out loud. He’s greeted by serious nods from everyone. “Alright. Let’s go then.” 

They drop in silently. The space behind the bar is dark and empty, just the way Isogai wants it to be. Everyone from their class is completely silent, making sure to step lightly as they move. Tokoyami seems to have taken their hasty lessons about movement well, as he’s not much louder. Iida and Momo haven’t quite gotten the hang of it, but they’re quiet enough, and they’re definitely trying. 

Ritsu lights up on the dimmed screen, pulling up the map of the building and highlighting possible locations where Karma could be held. Isogai smiles in thanks, and chooses the one closest to them, here on the second floor, to start with first. He motions for everyone else to follow. 

They’re almost at the door when someone else steps out of the darkness. Fear surges through Isogai’s veins, but he knows the best way to handle this is to act quickly. He reaches for his knife - a light, dull blade, not meant for killing - but the man holds up his hand, and blue fire dances over his palm. 

“Careful,” he says softly. Isogai watches him, keeping an ear on everyone behind him. They’re either blending in with the background to try and surprise the man, or drawing their own weapons to back Isogai up. “I’d put that down if I were you. It can’t do me any damage. Besides,” he grins, and Isogai sees his face in the light of his flames, deeply scarred and held together by what look like staples. He seems like a villain, if Isogai’s ever seen one. “One loud word, or a flare of light, and everyone else will be coming right on up.”

Something in his grin is familiar. It makes Isogai deeply uncomfortable.

Then is gaze fixes on Isogai. Something flickers in his eyes. “You. I’ve seen you before.”

_...You’ve what?_ Isogai’s pretty sure he’s never seen this man in his life. And besides, he has a quirk, which means he’s from the hero’s world. There’s no way they could’ve met. He decides to keep quiet, not give the man any ammunition.

“Yeah,” the villain continues, his eyes scanning those he can see. “I know most of you. Classmates of his, aren’t you? Came to rescue your old friend?” He laughs, and Isogai tightens his grip on his knife. “It’s a lost cause, kiddos. He doesn’t remember you.” 

He means Karma. How does he know that much about them, including what they looked like? There’s no way Karma would give up that information willingly. With all these superpowers - these quirks - did the villains have one that could read memories? 

The thought is sobering, Isogai realizes. They may be in over their heads. 

_Still_. He needs to respond. Everyone is counting on him. He looks the villain right in his bright blue eyes. 

“We don’t care if he doesn’t remember,” Isogai murmurs, completely honest in his words. “He’s our friend, and we’ll always be there for him. That’s what this class does.” He twirls the knife in his hands, making sure to show his skill, and draw attention away from anyone else that might be sneaking up on the villain.

Something in the older man’s demeanor changes, although Isogai can’t understand why. The man smiles, and it’s much more genuine than before. He almost seems like a different person. “Try downstairs then. End of the second hall off the bar. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“And why should we believe you?” Iida hisses. The villain smirks.

“You can’t. And you really shouldn’t. But the boss has plans for him, so you’ll want to hurry if you’re going to get him out of here without them noticing.” With that, the villain walks away from them, leaving Isogai stunned. 

“Should we take his advice?” Fuwa asks cautiously. “I mean, if I had to guess, he’s more of the anti-villain type than anyone else in this place. Probably has his own agenda."

Fuwa has a point, and in a world with heroes and quirks, Isogai is inclined to listen to her theories. “Let’s go. But quickly.” They make their way downstairs, and Isogai is sure everyone else’s hearts are beating as quickly as his is. _You’d think this would be normal by now, sneaking around with lives on the line. _The difference, Isogai realizes, is that before, they were assassins, people they had been trained to counter throughout the year. This was something completely new. Of course they were nervous.

They reach the hallway mentioned by the villain, and sure enough, one of Ritsu’s selected locations is right there. Isogai stands back as Okajima silently picks the lock, and they step in, ready for anything.

Karma is there. He’s the first thing Isogai sees when looking around the room. His arms and ankles are in thick cuffs, he’s dirty and a bit shell shocked, but otherwise, he looks fine. Isogai lets out a breath of relief.

“You’re here?” His voice is soft, uncertain. Karma swallows, cuts off the emotion from his face in a way that hurts Isogai deeply (Karma would _never_ look like that-) and tries again. “How?”

Yaoyorozu steps into the room. “Todoroki, it’s us. We came to rescue you.” Iida and Tokoyami slip in behind her, more of 3-E right behind them. Isogai doesn’t look back, but he knows Kataoka and Hazama are guarding the door. “We’re getting you out of here.”

A moment of silence, and Isogai wonders if Karma doesn’t believe them. (_It’s a lost cause, kiddos. He doesn’t remember you._) (No, he can’t believe that. Karma’s not a lost cause. He’s _not._)

Then Karma holds out his arms. “I’ll need someone to unlock these. Can’t really do it myself.” 

“I can help!” Maehara darts forward, pulling out a lock-pick. Iida comes with, hovering worriedly behind Isogai’s friend as he undoes the cuffs. When Karma is free, Iida immediately pulls him to his feet. 

“Are you alright? Did they hurt you? Do you need medical attention?” The words pour out of the hero’s mouth, and Isogai is just glad Iida still has enough sense not to raise his voice, or they would have a big problem on their hands.

“I’m okay. Pretty hungry, they didn’t feed me much.” Karma glances at them, and something has changed, but Isogai isn’t quite sure what it is yet. “Thanks for coming to get me.”

“Of course!” Yaoyorozu insists.

“We couldn’t just leave you here,” Tokoyami agrees.

Yoshida glances towards the door. “We can catch up later. We need to get moving.” At Isogai’s approving movement, they all head out the door. Karma’s footsteps are as quiet as they had been before, Isogai notices. 

It’s as they’re passing another hallway that their luck runs out. One of the villains, some sort of lizard-man with a massive collection of swords on his back, spots them moving down the hall. He opens his mouth-

-And it’s covered in ice. Isogai turns to see Karma standing there, hand outstretched. “Sorry Spinner,” he says, in a tone that isn’t very sorry at all. “I’ve got places to be.” (He already knew Karma had superpowers now but - no, he’ll freak out about that when they’re all safe.) Yaoyorozu pulls out some sort of cloth from her own skin, and Isogai tries not to focus on that. 

Spinner glares and charges, and they leap neatly out of his blades. Kataoka goes in with the knife, dodging around Spinner’s attacks and jabbing with her own. Tokoyami unleashes his Dark Shadow, which throws Spinner down the hall. Iida speeds to the end and stops the villain from hitting the wall, preventing the sounds that would accompany that. The rest of them follow. 

Spinner recovers and lunges, getting more and more frustrated when they all dodge and duck around him. There’s an open window near Isogai, and he stops by it to take a breath-

-and Spinner slams into him, sending him flying. Sugaya and Yoshida catch him before he hits the ground, but Isogai still feels dazed. It’s not the worst he’s had, not by a long shot, but it takes him by surprise.

Spinner stands by the window, eyes narrowing into something Isogai assumes is gloating, even if he can’t see the rest of the villain’s face. Spinner readies his blades to hit Isogai again.

A second later, he crumples, clutching his eye and letting out muffled screams. Ritsu appears and gives them a thumbs up: Chiba has done his job, and well. They knock him out quickly, and Yaoyorozu ties him up with the cloth she had at the ready. 

“You alright?” Yoshida asks. Isogai gives him a smile.

“I’m fine. Let’s get out of here, yeah?” 

Somehow, they make it out of the building in one piece. The weight on Isogai’s chest loosens drastically. He’s done his job, he’s made sure all of his classmates are safe. There will always be something comforting about that, he thinks. The explosions and destruction they hear must mean the pros have finally come. Isogai's just glad they're all out beforehand. 

Karma turns to him, regarding Isogai thoughtfully. There’s no malice, no mischievous intent. Just someone who is grateful to be free, even if at the hands of people he doesn’t remember. Isogai had been at the lunch meeting briefly and seen him then before the cops came, but… 

_Sugino, Nagisa, and Ritsu did say he was different._ Honestly, he’s not sure what do think.

The black goo appears out of thin air, swirling around and encompassing Karma. He gasps in shock and tries to light the thing up with his left hand, but to no avail. 

“Karma!” Yaoyorozu and Isogai reach for him, but he’s barely visible anymore. Firing from behind them signals Chiba’s return, but the bullets go right through the goo. Iida is speeding towards Karma, reaching out for him.

He catches empty air.

Karma is gone again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They pulled it off! But All for One will not be denied, and there's not much either class can do about that.
> 
> In case you're curious, 3-E got the knives and bullets, from Karasuma and Irina, who were on-board with the mission immediately.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed, and please leave a review, tell me what you like, or what theories you have!


	10. The Symbol of Peace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All for One is revealed, and the other half of the rescue team has a lot on their hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, the final part of this arc! I hope you all enjoy!

They stay as quiet as they can, sneaking down the side of a wall close to their target. Izuku grips the sleeves of the outfit the other class gave each of them. It’s perfect for combat, and extremely lightweight. There are probably much more components to the Izuku knows Hatsume would love to look at, but he doesn’t have any time to discover them all.

It’s still startling, to think that these kids are from another world entirely. Not only that, but even without quirks or heroes, they seem to have specialized training, to an extent way beyond what Izuku has ever seen before, especially for first years. And they wouldn’t tell exactly how they got all this equipment, just that they have friends in the government. First year high schoolers, having friends in the government.

Izuku wonders what they’ve gone through. 

Teraksaka puts Nagisa on his shoulders, who looks out over the building with special binoculars. The blue-haired boy scans the building. “Well… hang on… there’s something there.” He points to one edge of the warehouse. “I’m not really sure what it is exactly, but it’s super weird looking.”

“Can I?” Izuku asks. Nagisa nods. Kirishima gives him a lift up, and Nagisa hands him the binoculars. He looks over the warehouse, and stops at where Nagisa’s pointing-

He almost falls off Kirishima. “Nomus,” he gasps, heart racing. “Lots of them!” His friend’s eyes widen.

“Didn’t you say they were those monster things?” Kayano eyes the warehouse warily. “Not a good sign, right?”

“A really bad sign,” Kaminari confirms. He looks over at Sugino, who is right next to him. “Any word on the other group?” Sugino checks his phone, and it lights up. 

Sugino smiles. It’s definitely one of relief. “Looks like they found him at the other place. They’re going to try and bust him out now. Izuku lets out the breath he didn’t realize he was holding. It’s good, he thinks, that they’re found Todoroki. He feels guilty at the disappointment flickering in his chest at not being the one to save his friend, and pushes it down.

The heroes come to their location. They watch as heroes like Mt. Lady and Best Jeanist break into the building and pull out the Nomus by the droves. Izuku can see the other class watching this display with amazement, and totally understands. Sure, they saw some of 1-A’s quirks while planning the rescue, but this is their first time seeing superheroes in action. It’s awe-inspiring.

“How does she make her clothes change sizes with her?” Nakamura wonders aloud.

“They’ve got support gear and costumes for that,” Uraraka replies. “Wouldn’t be much use of a quirk if she kept ripping her clothes each time she grew.

“And that guy looks kind of like a whale.” Yada peers over the wall. “What’s with that?”

“Don’t go saying things like that about the number ten hero in Japan,” Kaminari snickers. “At least, don’t let him hear you.” 

“It looks like everything’s under control here.” Kirishima says. “And the others got Todoroki, so we’re all good! Let’s go meet up with them.” They all turn to head away.

There’s something there. Someone there. Izuku stops and turns back. “Midoriya?” Someone’s calling his name, but how can he explain this feeling he’s having?

“I’m sorry Tiger.” The voice his calm, and yet it shakes Izuku down to his bones. “But Ragdoll’s quirk was so useful, I just had to take it. Since my body was mostly destroyed, I haven’t been able to stock up on quirks.”

Best Jeanist moves fast, tying up the speaker with fibers in seconds. 

And then-

And then everything explodes.

* * *

The darkness around him is gone, and Shouto can breathe again. He hacks, trying to regain his breath, eyes searching around him to try and understand what just happened.

He was with Iida, Momo, Tokoyami, and those kids from the other world, the ones who - who knew him when he was - they were there. Not Nagisa or Sugino or a few others, But Isogai and Maehara and more, and with all of them (_all of them!_) he felt a striking sense of familiarity.

They rescued him from the league. The group of them took down Spinner, and they made it out of the hideout, all of them in one piece. Shouto hardly dared to believe it as it was happening, and now he knows it was too good to be true.

He pulls himself to his feet, noticing the villains all falling down around him, including Touya. They lock eyes for a moment, then turn away. They seem to be in some city rubble, a recent battle. In front of him is a tall man in a suit, with a face mask and dark cloth over his head. 

“My apologies, Todoroki,” the man says. 

“Sensei…” Shigaraki sighs. So this must be the mysterious Sensei.

“So, you failed once more, Tomura,” “Sensei” says. “But you must not be discouraged. “You’ll try again. That’s why I brought your associates with you. Even this child,” he motions towards Shouto who shivers, “Because you judged he was an important piece in your game board, and took the liberty of getting him yourself.” He walks towards Shigaraki, holding out his hand. “Start over as many times as it takes. I am here to provide you with help.” 

He needs to get away. Shouto knows he can move silently, but there are so many villains, he’ll probably still get caught. Making a break for it isn’t an option. Perhaps he could put up a wall of ice? No, Touya can bust through that, and he doesn’t know what powers Sensei has. 

And Sensei himself…

Shouto knows fear. He’s lived with it his whole life. It’s an integral part of his being, even if he doesn’t like it. Fear and anger have kept him alive in a household where one wrong word or misstep could end in being beaten within every inch of his life, sometimes in training, sometimes whenever. 

He was afraid when it looked like Iida was going to be killed by Stain. He was afraid when Touya revealed there were years of his life he was missing. 

Shouto _knows_ fear. And yet, this Sensei gives him a far different sense of terror than the kind he’s known before. 

There’s the whistling of air, and then All Might is there, pushing against Sensei with a force that pushes them all back. “I’ve come to reclaim my student, All For One,” He snarls.

“Have you come to kill me a second time, All Might?” All for One retorts. The shock-wave they create sends everyone flying. Shouto creates a massive wall of ice behind him, and he slides across it, away from the other villains and the rest of the fight. 

All for One held All Might himself back with his bare hands. For all of Shouto’s skills, he knows he can do nothing against an opponent like that. His best chance is to escape, give All Might more room to fight the villain. 

Then All for One is pushing All Might back with a massive blast and using Kurogiri to create a portal. “Go, Tomura. And take the child with you.” And All Might returns. Shouto can see all of the League looking at him. Touya must’ve gotten knocked out by the blast, because Compress has taken him, so no help there. Shouto’s on his own.

Shigaraki holds out his hand. “Well, Todoroki Shouto? Are you coming?” 

He can’t win this fight, not six against one. There’s a good chance they’ll take him by force, no matter what. 

Shouto smiles. “No.” He isn’t going to explain himself, doesn’t need to in their eyes. He’s sure they think they know his motivation: that he has people he cares for, that he agrees with them, but hasn’t quite given up on the system yet.

He hates them all, save for Touya. 

“That’s too bad,” Shigaraki says. “We’ll just have to take you by force then. You’ll change your mind soon enough.” 

Shouto was always good at dodging, long before he - long before middle school. He weaves in and out of the villains, careful not to touch them, using fire and ice to keep them at bay. He can’t keep it up forever, but he’s sure if he can just get an opening-

_There._ Toga sends a knife at him, and he jumps to avoid it, using ice to push him upwards and upwards, until everyone is far below him. 

“Todoroki!” _That sounds like-_ he turns.

And there- there is Midoriya, and Kirishima, and Nagisa, all propelling towards him at top speed. Shouto’s heart soars, and he uses his fire to propel himself upward, catching Nagisa’s outstretched hand. He feels his body jerk as he flies off the ice and along with the other three.

“Uraraka used her quirk to propel us, so we’re okay for now!” Midoriya yells above the wind. There’s a building right below them now, and Uraraka must have realized this, because her zero-gravity quirk stops taking affect, and they crash down onto the rooftop. Shouto has enough sense to roll before landing, but the gravel is still pretty hard. 

“We did it,” Midoriya breathes. He crawls over to Shouto. “Todoroki - are you okay?” 

“I-” He stops. Looks at Nagisa, who is watching him, deep worry in his eyes. But - there’s also hope there. He had grabbed Nagisa’s hand without really thinking about it. Were - were they friends, once? It would make sense. “Yeah. I’m alright.” 

“We should head down,” Kirishima motions to the door leading into the building. "Get back in the crowd. Safest place to be.” That’s not something any of them can argue with, so Nagisa picks the lock, and they walk down the stairs.

“Todoroki…” Nagisa looks at him, already soft words trailing off into nothing. What can Shouto say to him? To any of them? He doesn’t - he just doesn’t _know_. He has no idea what he should do about all of this. Just that he really needs answers.

“We can talk later,” he says finally. He tries for a smile, which Nagisa returns after a moment of surprise. He has a nice smile, Shouto thinks. It’s filled with hope, and he can’t quite bring himself to ruin that.

The others change from their cool outfits into civilian clothes, putting the other clothing into a bag Nagisa was carrying with him, before stepping out onto the streets, where chaos seems to reign, and heroes not on the mission are running damage with civilians. 

Nagisa receives a call from the others. His face brightens with relief. “They all made it out safely,” he tells them. “They actually managed to sneak into the building while the villains were distracted. Got intel on some of those Nomus.” His gaze flits to Shouto. “And the other group knows you’re okay. Kaminari managed to get in contact with Tokoyami, he told them.” 

Uraraka smiles. “That’s great!”

Shouto’s phone buzzes in his pocket. He pulls it out, and Ritsu is on the screen. “Todoroki, you’re okay!”

“Yeah,” he says. “I’m - Ritsu, are you crying?”

“I’m just really happy, okay?” It’s probably just for his benefit, AI’s don’t need to cry, after all. Still he can’t help but smile at her antics. It’s gone beyond just that strange trust he had, Shouto realizes. He really does care for Ritsu now. 

They watch as All Might’s fight goes on, as All for One slowly chips him down until… until All Might is almost nothing but skin and bones and hair. 

_Is… is it his fault? This only happened because All Might went after him- _

Nagisa’s nudge draws him back into reality. All Might is still on his feet. The crowd gets over their shock and starts cheering. Louder and louder, and then all of them are cheering along, and Shouto’s not quite sure what’s happening now, but maybe their screams are reaching him, because the lightning that surrounds Midoriya, except yellow-white instead of green, surrounds his arm. 

And then _he’s_ there, Endeavor, along with the other pros, and All Might and All for One are tearing everything up, and then-

And then-

All for One is done. All Might holds his hand high in the air. 

Victory is theirs. It’s never tasted so bitter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All right! Next time, we'll be back to our regularly scheduled mayhem with these two classes, and maybe even the fated meet up between Karasuma and Aizawa (maybe). 
> 
> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed, and please leave a review, tell me what you liked, any theories you have, or any predictions for the future!


	11. Scattered Pieces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is confused and searching for answers. There aren't many to be found.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Here's a new chapter, bright and early in the morning! I hope you enjoy!

Karasuma enters the police station where Karma is being held. His students had texted him that they had dropped Karma off here. He’s surprised they let him go at all, but apparently the aspiring heroes had insisted. Honestly, it was for the best. There might have been hell to pay later if Karma never showed up.

He approaches the room where Karma was being held, flashing his own badge at the police officer guarding the door, presumably from anyone who might try and attack him again. He is let in without another word. 

It’s a small room, with a desk, two chairs and a couch around a table, and a nice window looking outside. Karma is sitting in one of those chairs, seemingly staring at nothing in particular. White hair and harsh scar are on full display.

Karasuma had once thought of Karma as having the instincts of a killer. He knows it’s still there, buried under whatever the hell this is, and being forced to spend two whole days with a bunch of murderers seems to have brought it more to the surface.

No, that’s not quite right. It would be more accurate to say Karma’s middle school personality as a whole has been brought closer to the surface of his psyche. 

Karasuma isn’t an idiot. He’s been paying close attention to all the information his students have been giving him, and he has access to government info they simply don’t know about. There haven’t been any experiments based around giving people powers like those of fire and ice. It makes much more sense that Karma was born here, where powers like that are commonplace.

So what identity and personality is the true one? Akabane Karma or Todoroki Shouto? Perhaps Karasuma should feel more guilty for hoping it’s the former, that whatever brought Karma to their world in the first place didn’t change him beyond recognition. 

Karma looks up, a neutral expression on his face. His eyes scan Karasuma, and Karasuma can see familiarity flickering in there, however dim. Good.

“Todoroki Shouto?” he asks. “I’m Karasuma, from the Ministry of Defense. Do you mind if I ask you some questions?”

Karma doesn’t miss a beat. “Are you here for the file on the Nomus? I have it, if that’s what you’re looking for.” He tilts his head to the side slightly, considering, then narrows his eyes. “You’re like those students, aren’t you? You think of me as Karma.”

There’s no good reason to give him the file on the Nomus, especially since Karasuma can’t make much use of it at the moment. But he sees no reason to deny the second question. “Yes, I am. I taught you PE last year, actually.”

“Someone from the Ministry of Defense, teaching a group of junior high kids PE,” Karma muses, looking skeptical. Then he frowns in thought. “All of them were experts in combat and stealth. Not many first years are that good at sniping, especially since none of them seemed to have quirks.” He looks up at Karasuma. “I have lots of questions.” 

“I’m sure you do,” Karasuma agrees. “I can answer them to the best of my ability.” He pauses, and dammit, this shouldn’t be so hard, but he _cares_ for his kids, and Karma not remembering how much he delighted in their classes, how eager he was to learn, it’s frustrating, to say the least. “How much do you remember?”

Karma avoids his gaze. “People… are familiar. I know skills I can’t remember having picked up. That’s - that’s pretty much it. I have memories of living with my father and sister for the past three years, in this world.” 

So he does know about the different worlds. That makes things easier, although it’s disheartening, hearing how little he remembers. 

Karma shakes himself from his own musings, and Karasuma focuses on him again. “I - I need to talk to my sister, find out what she knows. I can’t trust my old man to tell the truth-” He breaks off, wide eyes meeting Karasuma's. If he thinks Karasuma will judge him for that last statement, then he really doesn’t remember him that well.

“I don’t know what your relationship with your father is, but if you don’t think you can trust him, then I respect that,” he assures Karma, who looks relieved. Karasuma recalls how Ritsu said Karma’s father pushed his mother into giving him that scar, and maybe Karma isn’t his student anymore, but he can’t help but worry. 

“Okay.” Karma breathes. “Okay.” He seems to have calmed down. “What I’m saying is: I need answers. I know I was - I understand that - at some point in my life, that I can’t remember, I called myself Karma and went to school with those kids.” He seems to be having trouble coming to terms with it, but he isn’t separating Karma as a different person, which is good. “But I need more information before I can do anything else about it.”

“I understand,” Karasuma agrees. “It seems our worlds are slowly merging, as are our internets and other technology. I’m sure the answers will be even easier to come by as time goes on. In the meantime, you have my full support.”

Karma finally smiles. It’s small, and nothing at all like his old constant grins. It seems real though, and Karasuma decides that’s good enough for now. “Thank you,” he says.

The door opens again, and Karasuma turns to find a man with long dark hair, dark clothing, tired eyes, and a massive scarf wrapped around his neck. The man gives him a considering glance before turning to Karma, who seems to unconsciously sit up straighter.

“Aizawa-sensei,” he says softly. This must be Karma’s new teacher, the one Ritsu mentioned. One of those pro heroes.

“Good to see you’re safe, Todoroki.” There’s not much expression in his voice, but as one who doesn’t give away much himself, Karasuma can tell he means every word. 

“It seems as though he would be the right person to give the file,” Karasuma points out.

Karma nods and holds out a hard drive. “This has information on the different Nomus at the busted lab,” he informs Aizawa. “As much as they could get.”

“Thanks.” Aizawa takes the file. “This could prove helpful.” He turns back to Karasuma, and this time, he looks angry. “We need to talk about those kids who decided it was smart to sneak into a villain’s hideout and steal information in the first place. Given what you and Todoroki were talking about, I’m assuming they’re your kids.”

So Aizawa was listening in. No point in denying it then. “Yes, that’s right.”

Aizawa glares. “When it comes to my own students, they committed a serious breach of trust, and if not for the fact that All Might was forced to retire, I would be expelling all but Todoroki, and those not involved at all in this “mission”.” Karma looks like someone struck him across the face.

Aizawa doesn’t even slow down. “When it comes to the other group of kids, not only do none of them have licenses to use perform heroics, but none of them are even in a hero school at all. They’ll be facing serious consequences for this. I hope you understand that.”

Karma stiffens, and it takes years of continued practice for Karasuma not to do the same. He had considered that for a superhuman society, there would be different rules, but this seems ridiculous. _A license required to help others? Really?_

“There’s no need for that,” he says evenly. “I authorized the mission, so it wasn’t without express permission. None of them used quirks, so you can’t punish them for using any. They’re all extremely capable, better than most professionals. But if you need someone to blame, I suppose you can blame me for this.” And really, what can Aizawa do? He’s a teacher, and Karasuma is a government agent from another world.

“Or me.” They both turn to Karma, who looks Aizawa straight in the eyes, completely serious. “If I hadn’t been captured, none of them would have had to come and rescue me. I can take the blame, if you’re serious about giving it to someone.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Aizawa snaps. “Of course you won’t be blamed for this. It isn’t your fault the villains took you. This isn’t about that, it’s about the fact that your classmates made a conscious decision to break the very law they’re training to uphold.” He turns to Karasuma. “Rules are there for a reason. When civilians decide to take matters into their own hands, regardless of how good they think they are, they almost always make matters worse for everyone.”

“Except this time, they saved me,” Karma counters him. “Not the heroes, they didn’t do anything to help me. But everyone saved me twice. Once at the bar hideout, once from All for One. Neither time did a pro hero help with that.”

“I might not be a hero,” Karasuma breaks in, “But I would assume that being a hero means doing the right thing and helping others, no matter what. Even if others say you shouldn’t.” And how it grates him, telling someone else that the law should be ignored. But it’s for his students, so he manages. “And again, I have the authority to green-light their mission, which I did. They were in fact operating legally. And really, what right do you have to punish my students?” 

“They saved me,” Karma repeats softly. “They all rescued me from the villains, and if you expel any of them, I walk right out the door behind them.” The look he gives now seems almost entirely that of Todoroki’s, because Karasuma has never seen Karma look so serious, save for extremely dire moments, and usually not even then. (There’s also a hint of fear in his eyes, and Karasuma can’t help but worry.)

Aizawa exhales. “You’re right. I have no authority over your students. I do have to wonder why a bunch of first years can apparently take down villains, and as you said, professionals, but I suppose that’s the government’s business, not mine.” His gaze flickers to Karma. “The police will be coming in shortly, to ask you some questions. I hope you don’t mind.”

“I’ll be fine,” Karma assures him. Aizawa nods, and with one last look at Karasuma, walks out of the room.

Karasuma watches him go. “Interesting teacher you’ve got there.”

“Yeah. He’s really good though, so it evens out.” Karma’s gaze flickers to him, and for a moment, he can see the middle schooler he taught behind those gray and blue eyes. “You remind me of him, actually.”

“Do I? Huh.” Karasuma frowns. “I don’t see it.” It’s worth it, for Karma’s snort of laughter.

* * *

Momo drums her fingers on the table, her other hand gripping the coffee cup she had ordered. Maybe it’s silly how frayed her nerves are. Everything ended up okay. They rescued Todoroki, and even if the villains got their hands on him again briefly (that black gooey stuff will haunt her nightmares) he ended up okay. They all ended up okay. Everything’s okay.

The door to the coffee shop opening is a relief, as it breaks her out of her thoughts. Sugino gives her a small smile, and quickly goes to order his coffee. Momo waits patiently as he receives his cup and brings it over to her table.

“Thanks for inviting me here,” he says, taking a sip. He puts it down, looking serious. “I’m guessing you have questions.”

Of course she does, how could she not? She saw how skilled his classmates were, how they took down a villain that gave pros a run for their money, how skilled they were at sneaking around. They even taught Momo and the others going on the rescue mission some skills, and it isn’t that she’s ungrateful or anything, quite the opposite! She just… doesn’t quite know what to make of it.

Not to mention the whole thing with Todoroki and the different worlds.

But looking at Sugino… she smiles. “Yes, I do have questions, and I think they’re pretty fair ones to ask, but everyone has questions. It would be much better for everyone to get the answers as a group, wouldn’t it?”

“I think so too,” Sugino agrees. “That way, we don’t all have to go over the same things twice. I’ve got some questions too. I mean, we’re sort of in a world with superheroes and all that, and while I can get some answers on the internet now, I think it would be better to learn from people who have lived here their whole lives.”

“That’s understandable.” Momo thinks suddenly that she got the better half of the deal with this whole worlds-merging thing. After all, the world they live in seems simply to be a world without quirks, which, while strange, isn’t entirely off-putting. It used to be the case in their world, after all.

But to them, they’ve found themselves in a world almost entirely unlike their own, a superhuman society. It must’ve sent their views on the world spiraling.

Then again, Momo recently realized the moon seems to be stuck as a crescent, when it should be a waning globius about now. She can only assume that’s from their world. She wonders how that happened.

“But that’s not the reason I wanted to meet up,” she finally continues. “You’re my friend Sugino. I just wanted to have a nice coffee shop meet up with a friend.” 

Sugino seems surprised, but smiles. “Well, okay then! I’m happy to hang out with you!” 

Momo lets out a small sigh of relief. It’s silly, but it’s still such a thrill, being friends with so many people. And even if Sugino’s from another world, she really enjoys his company.

* * *

Shouto stretches out on the couch once he arrives home. The police questioned him late into the night, asking him what the villains did, what they said. Shouto had told them what he could, but left out the part about Touya and learning about Karma. It seemed to be an important part of him being there, sure, but it just wasn’t something he ever wanted to tell them.

If Touya is even a little bit right, then the government is behind this whole different worlds business. He’d rather not take the chance of telling them he knows anything. (Besides, it’s _his_. His identity crisis, not theirs. His brother, not theirs.)

It’s funny, he thinks. Once the Japanese style of their home was the only kind he felt truly comfortable in. Ever since… the beginning of this year, really, it’s felt less and less like home, more like the design of a place he just needs to go home to every day.

Well, there’s still one good part about this home.

“Shouto!” He allows himself to be hugged by his older sister, and after a moment, hugs her back. “You’re okay, you’re really okay, I was so worried! Were you okay at the station? Is there a reason you didn’t want me to pick you up?”

Fuyumi is his emergency contact, has been for a long time. He asked her not to come get him, because he wanted the time to think about what he would ask her.

“I’m okay Fuyumi.” She dries her eyes and smiles. “I - do you mind? There’s something - something I want to ask you about.”

“Oh? Well sure, go ahead.” She says it so casually, like this question won’t turn his whole world upside down, depending on the answer. 

“Do - when I was going into junior high, was there-” He struggles for the right words. He’s always struggled with words, although maybe not as Karma. “Was there ever an incident with - with different worlds? And me possibly going into them?”

“What? Yeah, of course there was.” Shouto startles, staring at his sister with wide eyes. “You mean the time some government sickos tried to send you to another world, and it failed? Father was mad beyond belief.” Fuyumi shakes her head, trying to rid herself of the memory. “I remember - you had nightmares for weeks after that.”

“I-” Shouto looks at his hands, and tries not to think of the world crumbling around him, because what the hell, _what the hell?_ “I - what? What? I don’t-”

He doesn’t remember that. He doesn’t remember that at all! He thought he had all his memories of living in this world the past three years, but apparently he doesn’t have that either. Apparently he’s missing that as well.

He fights the rising panic in his throat. _Fuck_, what the hell is wrong with him?

“Shouto?” Fuyumi looks at him, worry evident in her gaze. “You haven’t even mentioned it since this school year started - is everything okay? Do you not remember that?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Shouto, he just can't catch a break. Karasuma and Aizawa meet, and it's not a very happy one. Hopefully they'll be able to reconcile over the care for their kids. On the other hand, Momo and Sugino are still having fun as friends! Maybe soon there will be other groups that will become just as close.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed, and please leave a review, let me know if you liked it, and/or what theories you have!


	12. A More Genuine Calm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shouto and Nagisa talk it out. Karasuma and Aizawa talk it out. Things are actually good for once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New Chapter! Yeah! I hope you enjoy!

The boy on the playground has wings instead of arms.

Nagisa watches as his mother, who has feathers for hair, carefully directs him around the playground, figuring out what equipment is safe for him to use with his appendages. The boy can’t be more than five or six.

It’s been happening a lot lately. Nagisa sees someone’s shopping bags floating behind them as they walk, a man with antlers in a business suit and talking on the phone, some college student running along the side of an alley wall, muttering about how late they are for class. People all over seem to have quirks. They’re everywhere Nagisa looks.

What’s even more interesting is that no one else seems to notice. When Nagisa was walking home from school with a few of his classmates, a little boy swam in by, cutting through the air like it was calm water. No one except him seemed to notice this.

Now Nagisa swings his feet off a park bench, wondering how his life has come to this. With Korosensei gone, he thought the last of his crazy adventures were over. But now, watching the boy with wings for arms, he really gets the sense that everything is just getting started.

“Mind if I sit here?” Nagisa startles and looks up. Karma is standing next to him, his expression unreadable. 

“Sure, go ahead. I don’t mind.” As if Nagisa would say no. He moves over, and Karma sits down next to him. He remembers that Karma promised they would talk later, right after they had rescued him.

That night… it burns in his brain. It was a surprise, seeing all these kids their age with incredible powers, including Karma. They’d heard about pro heroes from the other class, heard about what they could do. But seeing them in action… it was something right out of a movie, with all the fear and wonder that came with that. The final clash between the hero All Might and that villain was something out of an anime, or the climax of a superhero movie. It was definitely humbling. 

But amidst all that, they had managed to rescue Karma from those villains. And Karma had promised to talk to him later. Nagisa’s been stressing about this conversation in the few days that have passed since then.

“So,” his old friend says. “Karma.”

Nagisa whips around to look at him. Karma is watching him intently. The fact that he brought this up himself… does he finally believe them? Nagisa hopes that’s what it means.

“Yeah,” he manages to say. “We, um, went to middle school together.”

“Right.” Karma looks away, contemplating his words. He’s a lot more careful with what he says than he used to be, Nagisa notes. Just another difference to add to the pile. “I don’t remember that. But I’ve been looking around, checking out different sources. Your story lines up. So I guess - I guess I really just - just don’t remember.” He stumbles over his words, and Nagisa really doesn’t care, because Karma _finally_ believes him. It’s one of the best feelings in the world.

“It’s more than that though,” Karma continues. “I talked to my sister, and she remembers that whatever sent me to your world failed. Apparently I used to know that as well? And I’ve done some digging since then, talking to different people from my middle school, and they all remember me being there.” 

Nagisa tries not to let all of this make his head hurt. It’s difficult. “So, are you saying you were in two places at once?”

“I don’t know.” Karma runs and hand through his hair in frustration. Nagisa can almost see the stress that’s been chipping away at him. “I can’t figure this out. It just doesn’t make sense.”

_It must be hard_, Nagisa realizes with a wince. He tries to imagine finding out there was a whole different life he’s lived, confirming that he lived another life, but having no memory of it. All things considered, Karma’s been taking this really well. 

“It’s not just that though,” Karma says. “I don’t remember you, but apparently I know you, and I think we were friends?” He looks questioningly at Nagisa, who nods rapidly. “Well, I’m not - not the same person I was, obviously. But maybe - I think I’d like to remember the time that I lost. Or at least understand a bit better.”

_Could you help me?_ The words were left unspoken, but Nagisa heard them anyways. “Of course I’ll help,” he promises. “And the rest of our class will too. Everyone cares about you a lot, even if you don’t remember.”

“Okay.” Karma nods to himself. “Okay. Thank you.” The two of them sit on the bench together, watching kids play on the playground. It’s a really nice day out, Nagisa thinks. It’s been a while since he just sat with Karma, and that’s really nice too.

* * *

Shouta rubs his temple. It’s been exhausting: first the training camp turned out to be a mess, and Todoroki was kidnapped. Then seven of his students decided to take it upon themselves to go and rescue him.

No, that wasn’t quite right. They were joined, and perhaps even encouraged by, a group of first year high school students who were apparently government approved, who took it upon themselves to rescue Todoroki, and actually succeeded. 

He taps his fingers on his desk, frustrated. 

“Excuse me?” Aizawa looks up. It’s the government worker who was talking with Todoroki before, with the spikey hair. Behind him is a blonde with long hair. They both wear serious expressions upon their faces. “Aizawa, right? You’re Todoroki’s teacher, as well as the teacher of those other students. We’d like to speak with you, if that’s alright.” 

Aizawa quirks an eyebrow. Their last conversation didn’t go so well, and he wonders what this man has to say. He wants to ask Todoroki what had been going on - there were obviously secrets he wasn’t being told - but felt it was too soon to try and get the boy to talk.

“You’re from the Ministry of defense as well?” He asks the woman.

“Yes.” She unconsciously flips her hair over her shoulders. “My name is Irina, it’s nice to meet you.” 

“Hm. Sit down, I guess.” They do. He wonders how they got access to his office. 

“It’s a long story,” Karasuma says.

“I’ve got time.” He hopes this is worth it.

And now he was finally getting an explanation. 

“So, your saying the government split Todoroki into two people, one living in your world, one living in ours,” he summarizes. 

The government worker, Karasuma nods. To his left, a blonde woman watches him with the eye of someone trying to discern all the juicy details of his life. _She said her name was Irina, right?_ “That’s correct. You’re taking this better than I thought you would.”

Aizawa shrugs. “I’ve seen plenty of strange things during my time as a hero. A person being split into two different people isn’t that high on the list.” He frowns. “The real worrying part is why the government decided it would be a good idea to use a boy just going into middle school for this.” Did Endeavor agree to it? Aizawa has never gotten along with Endeavor, so he tends to avoid the fiery hero. The idea that the new number one in Japan could do something like that…. 

It’s unsettling, to say the least. Combined with Todoroki’s scar, his refusal to use his left side until late in the USJ incident… something is clearly not right, and Aizawa’s berating himself for not seeing it sooner. 

“We’re not sure about that either.” Karasuma sighs. “The reason I was teaching that class is because our government experimented on a human, and turned them into - into a monster of sorts. Could move as fast as mach twenty. Bullets, knives, and other usual methods wouldn’t hurt him, and those we created specifically to do the job only worked for a while - he could regenerate limbs. As soon as we realized we couldn’t kill him, he gave us an ultimatum: let him teach this one class at this one junior high school, and let those kids have a chance to kill him before March, when he would blow up the planet.”

No one in Aizawa’s world can go mach twenty. That’s very impressive. He wonders if there was anything heroes could have done in that situation.

It explains the children’s skills, their dedication to rescuing Todoroki. If they spent a year together learning how to save the world, it’s no wonder they grew close.

It also means a bunch of kids with no quirks were able to take down a being faster than any villain alive, save for warp villains. If the two worlds are merging, then it’s probably a good thing people like that are being introduced to the world of quirks first.

Irina frowns. “The kid experimented on by one government ends up in a classroom being taught to kill an experiment by the other government? That can’t be a coincidence.”

“The class was at one of the best schools in the country,” Karasuma points out. “It very well could have been a coincidence. Then again, if both governments were working together, they could be monitoring two birds with one stone.” 

“Something to keep in mind,” Aizawa agrees. “I’m going to be a bit busy, with the students moving into the dorm rooms, but I’ll do some investigating on my end. I’m assuming you’ll do the same?”

“Of course.”

Aizawa wonders just what they hell his students have gotten themselves into now.

* * *

Shouto looks at his empty room, wondering what to put in it. Maybe at some point, he would have put down tatami mats, made it look and feel much more like home. Now, that just doesn’t seem right. Perhaps it’s because he lived Western style as Karma? 

In the end, he decorates his room with blues and greens, as well as putting a few plants here and there. He makes sure the fridge is stocked with soba and good spices (which he bought using his father’s card, but that was neither here nor there). Shouto sits down on his bed, wondering just what else he should do. 

“You’re room is really nice!” Ritsu buzzes from his phone. “I like how you decorated it.”

“You think so?” He looks around his room again. _It’s plain, but that kind of works._ “I thought the plants might be a nice addition, I just don’t know if I’ll be able to keep them healthy.”

“I can alert you when they need to be watered,” Ritsu suggested. “That way you won’t fall behind.”

“Thanks Ritsu.” It’s funny: when she had first appeared on his phone, he felt what must’ve been leftover trust from Karma, but it was still weird and uncomfortable, having some AI with access to everything on his phone. Now he’s just glad she’s here. 

It’s so strange (and yet not), being out of his father’s house, being constantly surrounded by more than just one person who cares about him. Freedom is sweet, sweet enough that he’s not entirely sure what to do with it.

“Todoroki!” Uraraka and Mina poke their heads in. “We’re all going to meet up in the common room now, want to come?”

“Yeah.” He gets up and follows them out. 

It’s funny. He has two classes looking out for him now. It’s more friends than he’s ever had before (he thinks). Shouto could get used to this. 

He just hopes something else won’t snatch it out from right under him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Karasuma and Irina got the location of Aizawa's office from Ritsu, by the way. Just in case you were curious. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed! Please review, and tell me what you liked, and what theories you have!


	13. New Bonds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kids are figuring themselves out. The adults are figuring some secrets out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's another chapter for your enjoyment! I hope you like it!

“Are you really thinking of getting some All Might merchandise?” Izuku asks. Nagisa turns and gives him a smile.

“Sure! I mean, I haven’t been able to buy this stuff before. It’s kind of cool that our class can now interact with this world to the point where we see the same stores and such. I wanted to buy some hero merch, and I know All Might better than any other hero, so I figured I’d get something with him on it.”

“And I brought you along, because you know All Might and All Might merchandise better than anyone,” Todoroki adds. Izuku can’t help but feel flattered. 

The last time they were at this mall, Todoroki was cornered by Shigaraki, and their time with everyone was cut short. There’s extra security here now, including a hero patrol, but Izuku can’t help feeling a little nervous. Still, he won’t let the villains take his enjoyment of the day away from him!

“I’d go with something simple, and not very flashy,” he decides. “Especially since your world doesn’t know who All Might is. Too big, and people at your school might start asking questions.” He looks through the isles of the store they’ve decided to shop in. It’s small, but entirely devoted to all things heroic. 

After scanning through all his options, he holds up a keychain with the golden “V” of All Might’s hair on it. “This should work pretty well, I think.” Nagisa takes the keychain and looks it over. Izuku shifts on his feet. “Do you like it?”

“Yeah, definitely.” Nagisa smiles at him, and Izuku breathes a sigh of relief. “I’m gonna go pay for this now.” 

Izuku hangs back with Todoroki as Nagisa pays for his item. Izuku sneaks a glance at his friend, who seems to be watching the blue-haired boy intently. Should he say something? With all that they’ve learned, Izuku’s afraid it’ll be an uncomfortable subject to breach.

Luckily for him, Todoroki speaks first. “He’s nice, isn’t he? Nagisa.”

“Yeah.” Izuku watches him chat with the cashier. “I mean, I don’t know him very well yet, but I think he’s a really nice guy.” Not to mention he and his classmates gave Izuku that combat outfit for the rescue mission, as well as lessons on stealth. They seem to be great people as a whole, even with their odd secrets. 

“We were friends before,” Todoroki says, voice slightly off. Izuku whips around to look at him. He’s staring off into the middle distance, like he can see something far off, but can’t quite grasp it yet. “I still don’t remember, but I can feel it.” 

Izuku’s heart goes out to his friend. He knows what it’s like to have been alone almost his entire life. He can’t imagine learning that he wasn’t actually alone, that he had really good friends, but couldn’t remember them.

“At least you’re reconnecting now,” he points out. “That’s good isn’t it?”

“Maybe.” Todoroki seems troubled. “I don’t know.”

Izuku blinks in surprise. “Why not?” Sure, he understands Todoroki’s current struggles to a degree, but he can’t imagine not being happy about having a bunch of new friends that already care about him.

Todoroki thinks, choosing his next words carefully. “I get the feeling sometimes, that I’m not like they’re used to. I think I act differently than I used to. Sometimes I say things, or act a certain way, and they look stunned, like they can’t believe I just did that.” He takes a breath. “Even if I used to be Karma, I don’t think I’m the person they knew. I don’t know how to be that person, and I don’t really want to be. If they realize I’m not just going back to who they knew-”

“Then they’ll deal,” Izuku assures him. Todoroki stares at him in surprise, and Izuku realizes he just interrupted his friend’s important thoughts, and his face flushes. But he continues resolutely: “Sorry. But I think that if they care about you as much as they say they do, then they’ll be your friend anyways. I mean, we all change, don’t we? I’m different then I was in middle school too.”

“Not as drastically,” Todoroki says softly.

“Maybe not,” Izuku agrees. “But I did change. And I bet they’ve changed a bit too. The fact that they know you’re different and still want to be your friend - I think it shows just how much they care.”

Todoroki stares at him, emotions flashing quickly across his face. Nagisa returns with his paid-for keychain. “Hey guys, sorry that took so long. Chatty cashiers, you know?” He looks between them. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” Izuku assures him. Todoroki nods in agreement. “Wanna go grab some lunch? Food court is right over there.”

Nagisa smiles. “Sure, that sounds great! I’m pretty hungry right now.”

“They have ramen there, so I’ll be good,” Todoroki shrugs. 

Izuku raises an eyebrow at him. “I’m pretty sure you’ve had ramen for lunch all week,” he points out. “Don’t you want something a little different?”

“No, I’m good.” They each pay for their own lunches and sit down at a table together.

“I was gonna ask, what have you guys been up to lately?” Nagisa takes a bite of his lunch. “I know Yaoyorozu and Kaminari told Sugino you guys were working on something big.” He pauses. “If you can’t tell me that’s fine. I get it.”

“No, it’s all good.” Todoroki says. “We’re working on ultimate moves. Every superhero has one. It’s something unique to us, that will give us the extra edge in battle.”

Nagisa’s eyes brighten, which Izuku understands, because it’s just as cool as it sounds. “That’s so cool! Have you two figured out what your ultimate moves are going to be?”

“I’ve got a few ideas,” Todoroki admits. He looks at Izuku, who rubs the back of his head awkwardly.

“I’m… still working on it,” he confesses. 

“Well, I’m sure it’ll be great.” Izuku stares at Nagisa’s smile. It looks completely genuine. He’s starting to understand why Todoroki got along with the other boy so well back when they were in middle school.

“Thank you,” Izuku says. “I’m sure you’re right.” He tries to put as much confidence in those words as he can.

“What about you?” Todoroki asks Nagisa. “Anything interesting?”

“Schoolwise? Not really.” Nagisa shrugs, looking somewhat disappointed with his own words. “I always knew any class following last year would be a bit of a let down, but I didn’t realize just how much.” He perks up. “It’s not all bad though. Karasuma-sensei wants up to pick our training back up from last year. He’s contacting Lovro, to see if he can help.”

“Lovro?”

“He’s was Bitch-sensei’s mentor,” Nagisa explains. “He’s really_ really_ good at what he does.” 

“Bitch-sensei?” Todoroki wonders. 

Aside from a flash of sadness, Nagisa doesn’t miss a beat. “She was our English teacher. She’s gotten a lot better, but she was a total bitch when she first came. It’s just an affectionate nickname now.” 

“Okay.” But Todoroki doesn’t seem to think it’s okay, because he’s frowning. Or maybe he’s thinking of something else now? “Something I knew before, I’m guessing.”

Nagisa lets out a little laugh. “You were the one that coined the term, actually.”

He might as well have said Todoroki openly declared his intention to be a villain. Maybe that was exaggerating a little, but the way Todoroki’s eyes widen, Izuku knows he is just as surprised. 

_Then again…_ Izuku nudges him softly. “Remember when we were in the hospital, and the chief of police came to see us, and you called him a mangy mutt? Guessing this was somewhat like that.”

“Oh yeah. I’d forgotten.” The corners of his lips twitch upwards.

“Mangy mutt?” Nagisa repeats, clearly lost.

“He had the head of a dog,” Izuku explains. “So when Todoroki got really mad at him, he called him a mangy mutt.”

“We had just taken down the hero killer, and he told us that unless we kept quiet and gave all the credit to my old man, we would be receiving severe punishment,” Todoroki protests. “Never mind the fact that we saved Native’s life. I had every right to be pissed off.”

“Not arguing that,” Izuku says. “Just saying that this whole “Bitch-sensei” thing sounds pretty familiar.” 

“And to be fair,” Nagisa laughs, “She was being a _massive_ bitch.”

Todoroki finally cracks a smile.

* * *

Kirara browses the library, her fingers running over the spines of the different books. Ever since the two worlds started colliding she’s been seeing all sorts of different crazy things, from people with fins for ears, to rescuing Karma of all people from a bunch of villains.

If she had to pick a favorite thing about this merge, however, it would totally be that all the libraries are near double the size. A lot of books are the same, sure, although it’s hard to tell what’s in both worlds and what’s just in hers. But there are books by authors she’s never even heard of before, with a who new section of stories that are right up her alley.

“I would suggest _Raven’s Wings_.” Kirara spins around at the low voice, coming face to face with a familiar bird head. “Hazama, right? You look like you need something new to read. That was always a favorite of mine.” 

Kirara recovers. “Tokoyami, right? I’ll check it out, thanks.” She scans the shelf until she finds the aforementioned book. “Ooh, it’s a series!” She selects the first two off the wall. “You into these kinds of books as well?”

“Yes,” Tokoyami affirms. “They have always captivated my interest in ways that the more lighthearted of stories cannot.”

“I know, right?” She grins. “I’ve read just about all of the ones they have here. So imagine my surprise when I came here a few days ago to find it stacked with new books that I’ve never even seen before.”

“I had the same experience,” Tokoyami confesses. “It’s an amazing feeling, having so many new books that you’ve yet to discover.”

“Looks like you and I are on the same page with that.” Kirara tucks the books under her arm and sticks her other hand out. Tokoyami hesitates for a moment, then shakes. “Feel like we didn’t really get to introduce ourselves much, with the who “villains” thing going on.” She pulls him towards the more familiar shelf. “Here. Since you recommended books for me, I’ll recommend books back.”

Tokoyami lets her lead. “A fair trade off,” he agrees.

She selects one of her favorite books and hands it to him. “Here, this one’s a keeper. I’d get you my favorite, but I assume you have _Monte Christo_ in your world.”

Tokoyami shakes his head. “I’m afraid not. We seem to have the same taste, so I’m sure I’ll enjoy it.”

“Oh, you bet.” She snatches that book off the shelf and puts it in his hands with a large thump. “It’s one of the best. Hope you enjoy the long read. It’s totally worth it.”

“I enjoy almost nothing more.”

Oh Kirara _likes_ this guy.

* * *

There’s a knock at the door. Father isn’t home, so Fuyumi goes to answer it. “Hello? Oh, Aizawa-san.”

Shouto’s homeroom teacher gives a short bow, and Fuyumi can see the two figures behind him. There’s something about their gazes, almost piercing, that make her feel uncomfortable. “Sorry to drop by unnoticed. Is your father home?”

She shakes her head. “No, sorry. He’s on a business trip.” She’s surprised Aizawa didn’t already know that. Endeavor has been busy as the new number one hero, and his movements were being tracked by just about every media in Japan.

“I see. Do you mind if we come in and talk to you?” She jolts in surprise. “You are listed as Todoroki Shouto’s emergency contact.”

That’s right, she is. Fuyumi tries to push down the fear of why Aizawa and these other people would need to talk to Shouto’s emergency contact. _Please let him be okay_. “O-of course. Come in.”

The man and the woman behind Aizawa offer her bows as well. “It’s nice to meet you, Todoroki-san.”

“You as well. And please, call me Fuyumi.” She leads them to the living room. 

“If you insist. I’m Karasuma, and this is my partner, Irina.” He motions to the beautiful woman next to him. She smiles sweetly at Fuyumi.

“Please be seated. I’ll prepare some tea.” She hurries to the kitchen, trying to quiet her worried thoughts by keeping her hands busy. With Mom in the hospital, Touya - and Natsuo at college, Shouto is that last family she has closeby, excluding father. He’s her little brother. If something else happened to him…. 

She brings in the tea and sits down. “So, what is it that you’d like to talk about with me?”

Aizawa clears his throat. “We have some… concerns, considering the situation he has here at home.”

_Oh_. Fuyumi’s breath hitches.

“Of course, he’s at the Yuuei dorms now, so this is less of an urgent issue than it would have been otherwise,” he continues, “But considering everything Todoroki has told us about his home life, we think there may be cause for concern, when it comes to his father.”

Fuyumi can’t speak, her throat closing in on her. The teacup shakes violently in her hand, so she sets it down on the table.

She could have moved away ages ago. Natsuo did as soon as he got the chance. But Fuyumi had to stay, had to make sure Shouto wasn’t left alone with their father. There was no telling what could happen if he was.

Now that Shouto was at the new dorms, she had considered moving out. But there was still the issue of future summer breaks, or the tightened security being lifted. So she stayed anyways. And now people outside their family are coming to her, for the first time in her entire life, questioning what could be happening with their father, what he could be doing to his children.

Fuyumi is afraid. Not as afraid as she was when Shouto was kidnapped, or when the government tried to experiment on him a few years ago, but frightened all the same. 

She can’t let that stop her. Not when real freedom for Shouto could be hanging on the line. 

She wonders if Karasuma and Irina are lawyers, or service workers. They seem the type.

Irina puts a soft hand on her shoulder. "Dear, if you can't talk about it, we understand perfectly. We just want to make sure that you and your little brother are alright, and that you're safe where you live in. If you feel you can't talk, just say so, and we won't push."

Aizawa looks like he wants to argue, but Fuyumi is grateful for Irina's words. Somehow, she thinks, they're just what she needed to hear. 

“I'm alright, thank you.” She breathes. In and out. “Okay. I’ll tell you what you need to know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More bonding! And things are finally being done about the Todoroki's living situation! Hooray!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed, and please leave a review, let me know what you liked, and any theories you have! Thank you!


	14. Ticking Bombs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some people really shouldn't be meeting, for everyone else's safety.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back with another chapter, which includes the long await team up of Hatsume Mei and Horibe Itona! I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> Also, I can't believe I forgot to mention last time, but there's fanart of this story! It's by [Kurakynr](https://skyestar7703.tumblr.com/post/188878369939/i-love-it-so-much-thank-you), and it's so pretty! You should check it out!  
Anyways, onto the story!

“Ah, I see,” Iida says. “You’re focusing on making your own body float.”

“Yup!” Ochako holds up her arm and slaps her bicep cheerfully. “If I increase my mobility, I can learn the martial arts I’ve been learning even more! What about you? What do you want from the development studio?”

Iida smiles back at her. “It’s quite simple. I want to reduce Reciprico’s drawbacks, so I plan on asking the development studio to improve my radiator.” Iida’s been working extra hard these days. Finding out he had already developed an ultimate move before the class even started  
working on them has only motivated him more.

Ochako looks forward towards the Development Studio, brightening when she sees a familiar face. “Hey Deku! I was just wondering where you were!” She runs over to him, ignoring Iida’s cry about running in the halls. “You here for costume improvements too?”

Deku smiles at her. “Oh, Uraraka-” before he can get another word in, the door to the Development Studio flies open with a bang, sending him careening backwards. Smoke billows out of the studio.

And older man with what looks like the jaws of a crane coughs, wiping the smoke away. “You know, you shouldn’t mix everything in the lab together like that.”

A girl giggles from inside the smoke. “But failure’s the mother of invention, Powder Loader! Thomas Edison said so himself. Even if something I make doesn’t work like I wanted it too, that doesn’t mean it’s a waste of time!”

Someone else comes out of the lab, helping her up. “I thought the explosion was pretty cool anyways,” he says. 

Ochako recognizes both of those voices. So do Iida and Midoriya, from the sound of it.

“Hatsume? Itona?” Deku asks, sounding wary. Ochako shares the sentiment. The smoke clears revealing the two. 

“Hey.” Itona doesn’t even acknowledge them.

Iida sputters. “Wha - how - you’re not a student! How did you even get into Yuuei! That’s supposed to be impossible!”

“You’re kind of narrow minded, aren’t you? A big sucker for the rules.” Itona’s expression doesn’t change as he heads back into the studio, Hatsume waving at them before following the white haired boy. 

“Of course I care about the rules, and you should too!” Iida runs into the support room. “And you, Hatsume! You tricked me into becoming a walking advertisement at the sports festival! Have you no shame!?”

“Never heard of ya!” Hatsume calls back cheerfully. This only seems to anger Iida even more. Ochako and Midoriya share awkward glances.

Power Loader sighs, sounding used to the commotion. “Now that she’s living in the dorms, Hatsume is in and out of the lab all the time,” he tells them. “And this morning she dragged this boy she met off the street in here, along with some sort of super advanced AI.” He waves his hands. “But that doesn’t matter. Eraserhead said you three were here for improvements to your costumes? Come in.”

The lab is really cool, with all sorts of different advanced tools and strange inventions scattered all over the place. Ritsu’s there, on one of the computers. She smiles and waves at them as they enter. Ochako gives Power Loader her design instructions as he explains how things will work. 

Things then get _really_ weird as Hatsume starts feeling out Deku’s muscles, and she and Itona stuff him in what she calls her “Power Suit”. 

“This high tech darling can read muscle contractions and support your movements!” She says, as Midoriya looks around nervously, still unsure of what’s happening. “Meet my baby number forty-nine!” She starts up the Power Suit, and almost immediately, it starts twisting Midoriya in half. Thankfully, Hatsume ends the program.

Itona looks over the suit while Ochako tries to comfort Midoriya. “Looks like if you made some small adjustments here and here, it would be a bit more adaptable,” he says. 

“I don’t know about that,” Hatsume argues. “We need this part to remain as is.”

“Yeah, you’re right. What about-”

“Guys, Deku is seriously hurting over here!” Ochako calls out to them. They ignore her. 

Ritsu laughs. “Hatsume found Itona tinkering with one of his own inventions this morning and insisted on bringing him in to school,” she tells them. “They seem to get along really well, it’s so sweet!” 

“Yeah. Sweet.” Midoriya groans. 

“Not just him, but Ritsu as well!” Hatsume grins. “She’s probably the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen! If she wasn’t so against it, I would love doing some digging to see how she works!”

Ritsu laughs nervously. “No thanks.” Soon after, they have to find a way to get Iida down from the ceiling.

“You know,” Power Loader tells them later, after they’ve recovered from the level five hurricane that is Hatsume and Itona, “If you guys are aspiring heroes, you should treasure your relationship with people like them. Hatsume’s made a massive amount of support items since school started, inventing even when school isn’t in session. I’ve seen a lot of Support Course students in my day, but that girl is something special.”

He nods at Ritsu. “And your friend, Itona. There’s not many I’ve come across as smart as he is. Even in one day of knowing him, I can tell. If he ends up applying himself towards heroics, something tells me he and Hatsume could change Support Items as we know them.”

“I look forward to that,” Ritsu says, like the idea of those two constantly working together doesn’t phase her at all. 

The door explodes again less than a minute later, but at least Ochako learned something cool and important about the support course, and how they work with pro heroes. 

Although she absolutely admits that she hopes she doesn’t have to go back into the Development Studio for a while once the changes to her costume are completed. Ritsu is nice, Hatsume was… excitable, and Itona was… interesting, but the three of them together are something Ochako doesn’t think she wants to have to constantly handle, even with Power Loader in the room. She feels bad for the pro hero, honestly. Clearly the guy has his work all cut out for him.

* * *

It’s totally dark outside. Shouto can barely see a thing, but they’re in some sort of field, maybe? He’s with the class from the other world, all decked out in those combat and stealth outfits they promised they’d get him. Everyone looks nervous, scared, helpless. There’s a feeling pounding in Shouto’s chest, like he should be nervous too. He doesn’t know why though. What the hell is going on? Why is he here? Why is that other class here? What’s happening? 

There’s something there. Massive, and groaning, and barely human. It’s fighting against that yellow creature, and sure, Shouto’s never seen the thing before, but he’s worried for for it-him. So maybe he has?

Then the larger one howls and drops the other, and there’s Kayano, yelling for him to run, and Korosensei (is that his name?) Is yelling too, and another man with one cybernetic eye is laughing.

And then Kayano tries to fight the large monster, and is stabbed right through her stomach, and Shouto can do _nothing_\- 

He wakes up, curled up in his bedsheets, staring at the ceiling. Tries to calm his breathing, which is totally irregular. _Just a dream_. Kayano’s not dead. He saw her a few days ago. Of course she’s not dead. That was just some weird dream, probably fueled by all of this alternate worlds mess that’s been going on, and knowing he used to be friends with her. Shouto tries to convince himself of this, over and over.

It doesn’t really work.

He’s seen that yellow octopus thing, “Korosensei”, before. Not in dreams, but in those little moments where he needed to talk his way out of things, mostly around Shigaraki. So maybe that guy was real? He’ll ask Nagisa or Ritsu.

Speaking of, a small beeping noise alerts him to Ritsu’s presence on his phone. “Todoroki!” She says, sounding worried. “My scanners found your vitals to be irregular. Are you alright?”

“Yeah.” Shouto turns towards her, catching a view of the concern on her face. “Just a nightmare. It’s no big deal.” 

“Oh, that’s good.” She smiles at him. “Do you want to talk about it? I’ve heard that can help.”

“Thanks. But I’d rather not.” He leans back, staring up at the ceiling again. “Hey, Ritsu? Strange question: was there ever some weird yellow octopus man named Korosensei that we knew in your world? I don’t remember him clearly, and for some reason, I’m thinking the whole tentacles thing wasn’t a quirk.”

Ritsu is quiet for a long time. Shouto’s starting to wonder if she’s left his room entirely, before she speaks again, much more subdued. “Korosensei was our homeroom teacher last year,” she says softly. 

_The one Sugino said died at the end of the year._ Shouto has no response to this.

Sugino had praised Korosensei so much, had clearly cared deeply about him. The class that saw him as Karma was under his tutelage. Someone from the Ministry of Defense was their PE teacher that year. Those strange skills all of them knew, including Shouto. The fact that Korosensei had some sort of powers in a world without quirks.

Who was he? What really happened that year? 

Shouto yearns for answers to this, and the extremely uncomfortable thought hits him: _This isn’t someone else’s secret that I’m trying to uncover, digging where I shouldn’t go. I used to be in on this. I knew what was happening. _

_And I lost it._

A part of him aches, the part he didn’t even realize was there until now. Had it always been there? Or maybe since he went to the other world. Was that the part of him that used to be Karma? If he was split in half, why didn’t he remember both sets of memories? Were his other memories lost to him for good?

It wasn’t _fair._

Why couldn’t he remember? Why did he have to be split apart in the first place? How come he had so many friends, and teachers that he _knew_ (somehow) cared deeply for him, all of whom he had clearly bonded with, and yet he could barely remember any of them. 

It hurts. It feels like something important was taken from Shouto, something that a part of him yearns desperately to get back, but he can’t, he doesn’t know how. 

“Karma?” Ritsu whispers, almost afraid. But that would be silly, because why would an AI be Afraid? Then again, Ritsu was pretty special. 

“Shouto,” he corrects absentmindedly. “Touya said “Karma” was a name I came up with as an edgy twelve year old.” 

“...All right then. Shouto.” She says the word oddly, like she’s trying it out for the first time. It occurs to Shouto that he’s never given out his first name to anyone besides family. Oddly enough, it sounds right. Maybe because he used his first name as Karma? There’s a pause. 

“Touya?” Ritsu asks.

Should he not have said that? It was too late now. “My older brother. Apparently, he ended up in your universe with me. Says we lived together.”

“The flames,” Ritsu realizes. “Isogai says one of the villains had a quirk with blue flames, that he recognized everyone, that something about him seemed familiar. He’s your brother then? Touya?” She sounds weirdly upset. 

“Yeah.” He finally feels like he has enough energy to sit up and slip out of bed, so Shouto does so. “Please don’t tell anyone.”

“He kidnapped you!” Ritsu protests. Ah, so that was why she was upset.

Shouto shrugs. “I know. But he’s my brother.” He should probably explain himself better, but he just can’t. How could he explain the situation they grew up in, the pact that forms between siblings when ratting each other out would mean both of them getting a beatdown? Touya’s an asshole, and apparently a villain now, and still, Shouto can’t bring himself to hate him, or turn him in. 

Damn siblings. At least Fuyumi and Natsuo don’t have any weird secrets. 

“...I don’t understand,” Ritsu admits. “But I won’t tell, if it means that much to you.”

Shouto offers her a tired smile. “Thanks. I mean it.” 

She doesn’t smile back. “You should get ready for the day.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the ending wasn't particularly happy, but it is a step forward! I hope you all enjoyed, and please review, tell me what you liked, or what theories you have.


	15. Shouto

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some leaked information

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is an absolute mess, and I am so sorry. Still, I needed it to get down if I was going to keep going. I _will_ revise it later, and explain more from other perspectives within the next few chapters. But until then, I hope you enjoy.

Shouta taps his pen on his desk, repeatedly. He’s given up trying to get work done a little while ago, instead using up that time looking at his screen, at his notes from the meeting with Todoroki’s sister. Karasuma had jotted things down while he and Irina talked, most likely since she was better had handling these situations than her partner was. Even thinking about what they had learned now, after the meeting was over, Shouta still feels bits of anger welling up inside him.

Todoroki, his student, had been abused his whole life, and Shouta hadn’t realized it, hadn’t recognized the signs when he should have. His father was an abuser who put his wife in the hospital and scarred his children both mentally and physically. And that same man was the number one hero in Japan.

When he’d learned of this, Shouta had been angry. Karasuma and Irina had been seething. It was all he could do to keep them from ripping his head off when he explained why they couldn’t currently make this public, even though he agrees with them.

And therein lies the tricky part. Endeavor is now the number one hero, in a society that has just had a great upheaval with the retirement of All Might. If Endeavor were exposed now, everything they had done as a country to build a working society with quirks could come crashing down. For now, he needs to remain where he is, no matter how much he deserves to be exposed and torn down, if only for the sake of all the innocents that could be hurt should the hero system fail.

Even so, that doesn’t mean he’s done nothing. After agreeing to help Fuyumi move safely out of Endeavor’s house, with the assurance that her brother won’t be returning there, Shouta contacted Nedzu. The principal was as collected as ever, so perhaps Shouta was just imagine the anger and disappointment in his voice. Either way, he has agreed that Todoroki should be kept as far away from his father has possible, and that they as a school will do their best to make sure that happens.

So far, so good, even if his fellow teachers seem almost out for blood. If Shouta could, he’d lock Endeavor away forever. Still, not revealing his crimes is only a temporary solution, he knows. Endeavor won’t remain the number one hero forever, nor will he be always needed in this new system that is leaning towards teamwork. It’s only a matter of time before it’ll be safe to convict him, for the public to know, and Shouta looks forward to that day.

The door to his office opens, dragging Shouta from his thoughts. He’s usually one of the last people here at this point, he didn’t expect company. Except of course-

“I came to drag you out of here again.” Hizashi’s voice echoes around the room, filled with good natured humor. “Believe it or not Shouta, you are in fact a human being. You’ve already gone two nights in a row without sleep, we’re not making it a third.”

“Hmm.” 

“Someone’s in a mood,” Hizashi says lightly, strolling over to him. “Usually you’re hunched over tons of paperwork, or neck deep in a case, or shaking your head back and forth at your student’s antics. What’s got you so distracted that you’re staring off into space?” He rests his hand on Shouta’s shoulder, and Shouta absentmindedly covers it with his own.

“We’ve got a problem,” he says. It may not seem like it, considering the nature of both Hizashi’s quirk, as well as his job, but the generally loud hero can keep a secret if the situation calls for it. Shouta wouldn’t like him nearly as much if he couldn’t. After all, as an underground hero, he knows all too well how important some secrets are. “The principal knows about it, but this can’t go anywhere else.”

“Of course.” Suddenly the picture of seriousness, Hizashi sits down next to him, hand still on his shoulder. “Talk to me.” 

It’s hard to put into words. Shouta has dealt with abuse cases before, as a hero. He’s even met a few children whose parents decided to be villains, and needed to be rescued for both reasons. Todoroki is his student, and his father is a hero, the current best hero, and even if it shouldn’t, even if Shouta wishes it wasn’t the case, it changes things. 

_Dammit_. At least Todoroki’s staying in the dorms now. That’s the only comfort Shouta can take at the moment.

So he talks to Hizashi, tells him everything about his trip to the Todoroki household, and his talk with Todoroki Fuyumi. He talks about everything he learned there, and how looking back on his months with his student, he can now see the details he missed before, but shouldn’t have. He watches Hizashi’s face grow pale.

Perhaps he missed it because Todoroki Enji was a pro hero? Shouta had never liked the man, but he had respected him for his work. Had that caused him to ignore the signs he would have otherwise seen? Had he really been that blindsided? 

No wonder Fuyumi had been so shocked when they arrived, asking about her brother and father. If everyone just assumed Todoroki Enji was a good man because he was a good hero, any cries for help is children and wife may have given could’ve been ignored. 

Shouta feels sick, both with himself and partially with the damned system that allowed a man like that to escape punishment or risk chaos for their country. 

“Nedzu’s doing something about this, right?” Hizashi says seriously, once Shouta’s finished. “He has a plan? Is there something that all of us can do?”

Aizawa nods. “For now, the plan is to keep him away from that house. Not hard, since all the students are staying in the dorms, but come holidays is when things will really need to be figured out.”

“Dammit.” Hizashi runs a hand over his forehead. “I can’t believe we missed this. Poor kid. With all that league of villains mess, he has enough on his plate already.” A gross understatement if Shouta’s ever heard one, but he understands the sentiment. 

“We can figure this out in the morning,” Hizashi decides. “You still need some rest.”

Shouta scoffs. “With everything that’s been going on, you expect me to-”

“Staring blankly at a screen isn’t going to help anyone. And you can’t help your students if you’re too tired to teach.” Which, _dammit_, Hizashi has him there. “And you said your class is going to spend a day working with a combat professional?”

“Yeah. His name’s Lovro.” Apparently an assassin from the other world, one of the men who helped whip the so-called 3-E into shape, and has returned to make sure their skills stay sharp, now that they’ve entered a world of heroes and villains, and inserted themselves right into the fray. 

Shouta had discussed this with Karasuma, and both decided it would be a good idea for 1-A to receive training as well, as the group most involved with the colliding of worlds, as well as just about every other major event recently. Honestly, sometimes Shouta feels as though the only way to keep them under control was to put all of them on a leash. 

He wants to tell Hizashi about the other world, about everything that is happening around them. And he will soon. He just doesn’t know whether telling people about the different worlds colliding is really a good idea or not, whether that will mess things up even more than they already are. He just needs more data before making a concrete decision on who and how many to tell.

“Come on Shouta,” Hizashi says again. “Let’s go. You need sleep.” 

Shouta lets himself be dragged away.

* * *

They meet up with Lovro on the 3E mountain, E Class dressed in their old outfits, 1-A dressed in their new ones. Karasuma-sensei, Bitch-sensei, Aizawa, and of course Lovro are there. Nagisa is one of the first to arrive, greeting Lovro rather excitedly. Karma and his new friends show up soon after. 

Lovro looks Karma over. “You’ve changed, young man.”

“I figured that part out for myself, but thanks,” Karma says dryly. It sounds so much like something the old Karma would say that Nagisa startles briefly, but none of his new friends look surprised. Karma’s sarcasm must’ve been a constant between the two versions of him. 

And isn’t that a weird thing to think about: that Karma was in two places at once. It would be harder for Nagisa to wrap his head around if he hadn’t already seen so many strange things, but it was still a bit mind boggling. 

Uraraka waves at him. “Nagisa! Over here!” Everyone else seems to spot him then, waving him over. Karma is smiling slightly, but he looks distracted. Still, Nagisa’s just happy they’re friends again. He walks over to meet their group. 

People come in groups, and some of those groups are surprising. Nagisa knew Sugino was friends with Kaminari and Yaoyorozu, but Tokoyami is chatting with Hazama and Yoshida, and Hinano is having an animated conversation with a quiet boy possessing a strange shaped head. 

It’s strange, but it’s kind of exciting. It’s as though they have nineteen new classmates to share their experiences with. 

But Nagisa just so happens to notice that one of the students, Bakugou, if he remembers correctly, doesn’t seem happy at all with the proceedings. Maybe he just doesn’t like all the new people? He kind of reminds Nagisa of Terasaka, in the way he holds himself. 

Once all of them are there, Lovro has them get started. It’s a bit tough, getting back into the much harder training after a couple months of doing something lighter on his own, but Nagisa rather enjoys it. Lovro goes between them all, working with 3-E for a while before going to 1-A and offering them corrections and suggestions. 

They get a break for lunch while the teachers and Lovro go inside the building to talk, and Nagisa finds that his usual friend group has expanded to about twice as large as it was before, with all his usual friends, plus Midoriya, Uraraka, Iida, and Tsuyu (as she asked to be called). It’s nice, the way they all seem to blend together. 

Nagisa finds himself really enjoying their company. Uraraka is bright and optimistic, Midoriya always has new and interesting facts for everyone, especially when he realized the E Class group was interested in different quirks and heroes, Tsuyu has a good sense of humor, and Iida seems focused on making sure everyone is included.

And Karma of course, who listens far more than he talks, and occasionally smiles, even if those smiles are small. It’s different, and more than a bit strange, but he’s here, and he it’s so amazing that he’s back at all that Nagisa finds himself not minding the differences as much as he thought he would. 

He likes Karma as he was, for sure. But more and more, he’s finding himself enjoying this new Karma as well. Guilt strikes him - is he betraying his friend by thinking that? - But Karma seems so grateful that no one is pushing him to be something else, so Nagisa pushes that guilt away. 

Still, Karma’s been looking distracted all day. And Ritsu hasn’t been talking to anyone, which is really weird. Something definitely happened since the last time Nagisa saw them, and he really wants to know what.

“I’m going to go grab my water,” he says, standing up. “I left it over with my backpack.”

Kayano looks up from her conversation with Uraraka. “Be back soon!” 

“I will.” Nagisa offers her a smile, before heading over to where his backpack is located. He’s just standing up with his water bottle when a calloused hand claps him harshly on the shoulder. 

“Hey there Blue,” an angry voice says. Bakugou. Nagisa stands up and turns to see an angry face close to his own. “I want to talk.”

“Um, okay, sure.” From what Nagisa can tell, Bakugou doesn’t seem to like Midoriya or Karma very much. Maybe he doesn’t like that Nagisa became friends with them? It’s too bad if that’s the case, because Nagisa was already friends with Karma, and he really does like Midoriya. 

“What’s your quirk?” Bakugou asks. Nagisa frowns.

“I don’t have one. No one from our world does.” He shrugs. “Sorry if that’s disappointing.”

And now Bakugou looks _furious_. “You shits don’t have a quirk?” He sounds incredulous, and personally offended. “You decided to go rescue someone from actual fucking villains, and none of you have a goddamn _quirk_? Why the fuck are you even here!?” 

Bakugou is fuming, and Nagisa takes a step back. He doesn’t remember if someone told him what Bakugou’s quirk was, but he’d rather not be caught off guard. “I appreciate the concern,” he says politely, even though he knows the other boy isn’t concerned for him. “But we can do just fine without quirks. We have for a long time, after all.”

Bakugou snarls. “Don’t talk shit like that. Quirkless losers like you are worthless! You don’t deserve to lick the dirt off a real hero’s boot. What the fuck makes you think you can waste our time dealing with you wannabes?” Explosions go off in his hands. That must be his quirk then.

“Excuse me.” Nagisa turns to see Isogai looking evenly at Bakugou. “Just because we don’t have powers doesn’t mean we can’t help others. Just last year we-”

“Yeah, I heard. I just don’t give a shit,” Bakugou growls. “If you don’t have quirks, than either that thing wasn’t a real threat, or someone else took care of the problem and you took the credit-”

“Korosensei was a threat.” And that was Karma, who has arrived with Midoriya, who looks like a mixture of shocked and, surprisingly, hopeful. “And they did take care of him. Keep your biases out of this, Bakugou.”

“He’s right.” Something in Midoriya’s voice shakes. “They’re all right. You’ve never liked the quirkless, Kacchan.” More and more people are noticing the commotion and coming over to see what’s going on. 

Wait a second.

_Did we ever tell Karma Korosensei’s name?___

_ _“Shut up Deku! You can’t talk, you bastard!” _ _

_ _“You’re the one who shouldn’t talk,” Itona says coolly. Bakugou whips around to face him, glaring. “You obviously don’t know anything about our world, seeing as you’ve done your best to avoid any interactions with us. And with those ideas you have about the quirkless, you don’t sound like a hero at all.”_ _

_ _That seems to be the final straw, as Bakugou launches himself at Itona, palms exploding. With the experience of one who spent both time learning to control high speed tentacles, as well as lessons on assassination, Itona dodges nimbly and retorts with a punch right to the face._ _

_ _He’s still good. Itona wasn’t even breaking a sweat this morning. He’s obviously kept himself going when it comes to training. Nagisa wishes he had done the same. _ _

_ _“You talk so big,” Nakamura smirks. “But we I watched that festival. I saw you get beat by our classmate. Who, newsflash, wasn’t using his quirk when he was with us.” Karma’s friends look at him, surprised, and he shrugs. “Actually, he used a lot of what he learned with us in that fight.” _ _

_ _“Well, he was using his quirk in our fight!” Bakugou snaps. “And just because IcyHot-”_ _

_ _“Shouto,” Karma says coolly. They all look at him, and Ritsu appears on his phone, looking surprised. “If you’re going to use a name for me, it might as well be my real one. And all of this class that you deride for being quirkless saved me from the league of villains. They even took down one on their way out, which is more than you can say. Where were you, Bakugou? How did you contribute?” _ _

_ _Nagisa wants to say something to him, something to match what he’s feeling inside, but the teachers come back and immediately break them all up. He’ll have to sort out all those feelings later._ _

_ _He walks back to his lunch with Karma and Midoriya, who’s looking between him and Itona as though he’s seen something new and brilliant. Nagisa wants to ask, but decides that might be best saved for later. _ _

_ _“Did you mean it?” Midoriya eventually asks Karma. “About being called Shouto, I mean.”_ _

_ _Karma shrugs. Ritsu is smiling in his pocket, but there’s still something off. “Yeah. I guess I just… I think it feels right.” He glances briefly at Nagisa, but says nothing else._ _

_ _“O-oh. Okay then.” They reach the rest of their friends, and anymore conversation about Karma’s name is put on hold. _ _

_ _Still._ _

_Karma remembered Korosensei’s name. He asked to go by his first name again._

_ _Nagisa’s never been more hopeful._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please leave a review, let me know what you think, or any theories you have!


	16. Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shouto and Izuku talk, finally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guess what? I'm back! Sorry this chapter took so long, I got really into some newer shows, and put BNHA on the backburner for a bit. But I'm back, and although this chapter is short, hopefully it'll be the start of some quicker updates that are coming. 
> 
> Not only that, but I've been thinking of writing a side story containing a series of one-shots that don't fit into the main story, including some events from Karma's time in Class 3-E, as well as more 3-E, 1-A, and company bonding. Let me know if you guys would be interested!
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

It’s been a long day, filled with intensive training, both with quirks and assassination skills. Shouto lays down on his bed, memories of the day flying by in his mind. “You haven’t said, are you coming with me to the test?” Shouto asks the girl in his phone. 

Ritsu pops up on the screen, looking somewhat hesitant. “I didn’t know if you would want me too. I mean, I would like too! But are you okay with that?”

The corners of Shouto’s lips curl upwards. “At this point, I think it would be weird not to bring you along. We’re kind of like a team.” At this, Ritsu looks so happy the screen seems brighter.

“Yeah! We’re an awesome team together! Oh, this means I need a hero costume too! It should match yours I think, that would be good. Oh, can I get a hero name as well? I wonder what my hero name should be? What’s your hero name, Shouto?”

Shouto’s smile brightens at her enthusiasm. “Shouto.”

“Oh, do you not want me to use that name? I thought that you said it was okay. Never mind, I’m sorry.” Ritsu seems to wilt. 

“No, it’s fine,” he assures her. “I mean, Shouto’s my hero name. Sort of. I haven’t really come up with anything else yet.”

“Seriously? But you need to have a hero name! Maybe one related to your quirks? Or-” She trails off, clearly deep in thought. A hesitant expression crosses her face, as though she’s come up with an idea, but she’s not sure that he’ll like it.

“Or what?” Shouto prompts. 

“...Or Karma, maybe?” She says softly. “For a hero name, I mean. You don’t have to use it of course! I know how weird the name is for you, I was just thinking that it would make a pretty good hero name.” 

The funny thing is that Ritsu is right. Karma does sound like a good hero name. And… it is his name, even if it’s not the one he goes by now. Even if Shouto doesn’t remember going by it.

“I’ll keep it in mind,” he tells her. “There was something else I wanted to ask you though.” He pauses, unsure how to proceed. “You’ve seemed uncomfortable all day.” His mind goes back to their conversation this morning. “Is it because I asked you to keep the fact that Touya is a villain a secret?”

“I just think you should tell someone,” Ritsu admits. “Someone you trust. Like Midoriya, or Nagisa.” 

He doesn’t want to. He doesn’t want to say it out loud to anyone else at all, if only because doing so might make it real. 

But speaking of Midoriya… there was something strange going on with him during training. While it made sense that he would stand up for the quirkless, and he had known Bakugou far longer than the rest of them, the way he acted made it seem almost personal. As if Bakugou had once directed those comments about the quirkless at him. 

_The words they shared today… the fact that it seemed like Midoriya didn’t have a handle on his quirk when he first got to Yuuei… _

Shouto stands up. “I think I will go talk to Midoriya.”

Ritsu beams. “Tell me how it goes!” Shouto waves a hand to show he heard her. 

Midoriya isn’t in his room. On instinct, Shouto looks outside, and sees him practicing his new kicks. Shouto really doesn’t want to bother him, but he knows that if he doesn’t do it now, he might never work up the nerve to try again.

He makes his way outside. “Midoriya?” 

Midoriya stops mid-kick and looks up. “To-Shouto?” He seems almost flustered, saying Shouto’s first name. “H-Hey, how are you? Didn’t expect to see you out here this late! Anything you’re here for exactly?”

“Yeah.” He walks over and sits down on the grass. Midoriya follows his lead. “I wanted to talk to you about today. With Bakugou at lunch, I mean.”

“O-Oh, that.” Midoriya looks away. “That was nothing, just Kacchan being Kacchan. I mean, not that he’s right or anything! And it was really rude what he said to E Class, I mean, they’re all such nice people! It’s just that that’s how Kacchan is and I don’t think there’s much that’s going to change that so I usually just try to avoid conflict with him-”

“You’re rambling,” he points out. Midoriya shuts up. “The way you two talked… it was like he used to think of you as quirkless, and did the same to you for it that he did to the other class.” Midoriya flinches. Shouto knows he hit the nail on the head. That doesn’t make him feel better. 

“I won’t tell anyone, if you want to talk about it,” he offers. “...A secret for a secret? There’s something I’ve been holding onto as well.”

Midoriya looks at him with wide, expressive, eyes. “I-If you’re sure?” He looks away. “It’s not really my secret to tell, though. I’m sorry.” 

Shouto can guess who’s secret it is. He has a theory, wilder than his last one, but… “It has to do with All Might, doesn’t it.” It’s not a question. “No one knows his quirk, which means it could be just about anything. Did he give you some of his power?”

Midoriya gapes at him wordlessly, mouthing moving, but no sound coming out. Which meant-

“You’re kidding,” Shouto deadpans. “I was - I was just throwing out a crazy idea, and - you’re serious, aren’t you?” 

Midoriya buries his head in his arms. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you, and I probably should’ve denied that for All Might’s sake, except then I would be lying to you and I don’t want to lie to you!”

“It’s alright,” Shouto assures him. “I won’t tell anyone. Your secret is safe with me.” Midoriya looks immensely relieved. Then he looks at his hands again.

“You’re right. All Might gave me his quirk when I was fifteen. It’s a bit more complicated than that, even if I can’t get into it, but… you’re right. Before then, I was quirkless. I always shook the words of people like Kacchan off, reminding myself that I could be a hero no matter what. Apparently that’s why All Might chose me. But those kids….”

“They’re heroes, even without quirks,” Shouto finishes. “Their very existence proves people like him wrong.”

Midoriya is crying now. “It’s just, it’s just so good to see that! To see people like them, to know I was _right_! That there can be heroes without quirks, that I wasn’t being silly or unrealistic.” He tries to wipe the tears away. “It’s just so good to see.” 

“I don’t know what you’ve been through,” Shouto says. “But, I think maybe they do? If not for quirks then for other reasons. You could talk to them about it if you want. But I’ll always be here to listen.”

Midoriya smiles through his tears. “Thank you, Shouto. That’s means more than you know. But you said you had a secret to share? If you don’t want to tell, that’s fine, but I’ll listen too.”

It’s hard, to force the words out. What should he say? What can he say? 

“I had two brothers, and a sister,” Shouto manages to get out. “Did I ever tell you that?”

“No.” Midoriya looks curious now. “You just talked about your parents, not your siblings. Something strikes him. “Had. You said you had two brothers and a sister.”

Shouto nods. “We thought my oldest brother was dead. For years, we thought that. We had a funeral. We _mourned him_.” There’s anger in his words. Where is the anger coming from? Is it really coming from Shouto? “We mourned him, and it turns out that _bastard_ is still alive, and he never told us. He was in that other world with me, and he never tried to find me after He became a _villain-_”

Someone is hugging him. Midoriya is hugging him? Shouto feels tears running down his face - was he crying? Is he crying?

“That villain with blue fire at the training camp. The one that captured you,” Midoriya guesses, voice soft. Shouto doesn’t answer, and that’s all the confirmation Midoriya needs. “Oh Shouto, I’m so sorry.”

“He’s my brother,” Shouto whispers. “He’s my brother, and I still love him even though he hurt you and our classmates, even though he left us and never let us know he was alive, and I hate him for those things too. I don’t know what to feel about him anymore.”

All the feelings he’s been trying to regulate after the kidnapping are coming to the surface, and Shouto can’t stop them anymore. He’s still crying. “It’s all my fault. I’m the reason there’s this whole crisis with different universes, the reason All Might has to retire and Endeavor is the number one hero, and I can’t even let authorities know my brother is a villain because I care too much-”

“You don’t care too much!” Midoriya insists, breaking Shouto out of his own head. The words have so much more fire in them than the ones that came before. “Shouto, it’s great that you care! It’s one of the best parts about you! What happened to All Might wasn’t your fault, he’s been hiding his injuries for a while, it was always going to happen! And even if all the strangeness with different worlds centers around you, who cares? We wouldn’t have gotten to meet an amazing group of people otherwise.”

Midoriya tightens his hold. “Don’t talk about yourself like that. So many people care about you, so you should go easier on yourself.” They’re both crying now, and hard.

And maybe that’s okay.

“Thank you,” Shouto manages. “And you too. You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself. All Might cares about you. I care about you. So many people care about you. People like Bakugou don’t matter.” Midoriya hesitates, then nods into Shouto’s shoulder.

They stay like this for a long time. And that’s okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah yes, two kids that really needed to confide in someone about their issues. Good thing they've both got lots of people who can help them now.
> 
> Next time: Provisional license exams! Will things be different? Who will get their licenses? What does a certain windy hothead have to say about all of this? Wait to find out!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! Please leave a review, tell me what you liked and what your theories are!


	17. Building Blocks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day of exams is coming up for everyone, but that doesn't mean there isn't time for reflection.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, you might've thought you'd seen the last of this! Nope! Unfortunately, the license exams will be held off until next chapter, because there was so much I wanted to get through first. Hope you enjoy!

_It’s late, when he gets home. Considering everything that had happened today though, Karma thinks he’s got a pretty good excuse. So there’s no hesitation when he walks into the dingy apartment he shares with one other person._

_According to school records, and as far as his friends know, his parents are off on some exotic trip, probably in India. This is completely untrue, of course. It’s just him and Dabi, like it’s been for the past few years. _

_(And Dabi mocks him for his choice of name. As if he’s any better. At least Karma has the excuse of not being an adult. Dabi thought it was a funny pun, but really Karma’s older brother is just a massive dork.)_

_“I’m home,” he announces, throwing his jacket to the side. Neither of them are clean freaks to any sort of degree (he doesn’t think he doesn’t think he doesn’t) so it’s not that big of a deal. “Bet you can’t guess where I was.”_

_“You mean besides school, where you were supposed to be?” Dabi says dryly from the couch. “Well now I’m curious. Tell me, what strange and wonderful adventures did you go on with that weird-ass class and teacher of yours?”_

_“Since you asked.” Karma smirks and drapes himself over the side of the couch, deliberately getting in Dabi’s personal space. “Nagisa and I went into space today.”_

_Dabi swats him away, or tries to. Karma’s too fast - he ducks away and laughs, poking his older brother’s cheek. “Very funny, Shou.” Karma tries not to let his discomfort at the nickname show. He doesn’t want to tell his brother how _wrong_ it feels, like it belongs to the tattered part of him that existed before - before - _fuck. Don’t think about it._ Dabi has enough on his plate without knowing just how fucked up Karma’s mind really is. _

_He smirks, and tries to pretend things are fine, like he always does. “No, really. We stowed away in that rocket launch and everything. Pretended to bring a bomb aboard so they would give us the information we wanted. Got to see earth from outside it. It was all very cool.” _

_And it was Nagisa who came with him, which made it even better. It’s been nice, reconnecting with the first real friend he can remember - possibly the first real friend he’s ever had. There’s the added bonus that he’s pretty sure Nagisa would accept him if he knew - that all of his new class would. _

_Karma’s never going to tell them though. They don’t need to know just how messed up he really is. _

_Besides, he’s not sure how much longer he has with them. He hasn’t told Dabi, because he doesn’t think Dabi is experiencing the same thing, but he’s had this feeling for a while, as though something in his tattered head and heart is pulling him somewhere, like two charged magnets trying to force themselves together. And if - _when_ \- that happens, he doesn’t think he’s going to be _Karma_ anymore. So he’d rather just enjoy E Class’ company while he still can._

_Dabi studies him. “Holy shit, you’re serious?” Karma nods and grins. “Holy shit, Shou! You went to space!” _

_“I went to space,” Karma confirms. “Clearly this means I’m officially the cooler sibling. Not that I wasn’t already.” He swings himself back over the couch and heads to the kitchen. After everything, he’s starving._

_Dabi snorts. “Only in your dreams. You’re just going on all these adventures to compensate for being clearly inferior in terms of coolness.”_

_“Doth does protest too much, methinks.” Dabi snorts, and they share a bit of a laugh. “You’re making dinner and clearing up, by the way. After everything, I think I’ve deserved to hog the TV for a while.” _

_“Yeah, yeah, keep talking, smartass.” Dabi gets up and ruffles Karma’s hair on his way out of the room. Karma sticks his foot out, and Dabi jumps over it. “Maybe I’ll make you some real astronaut food.”_

_Karma watches him go. He’s about to call his brother back with some witty remark, but the sudden headache that strikes him has other plans. Karma leans against the small kitchen counter, gritting his teeth and holding his head in his hands, as though that will stop the insistent pulling. It’s like gravity, something so fundamental to the universe, no human can defy it, except Karma’s brought a parachute, and he’s willing to make the falling process go as slow as possible._

__Not yet. I’m not ready yet. I want to graduate first. I want to see what happens with Sensei. I want more time with everyone. I’m not ready to go yet.__

_Karma’s always known he’s only a part of a larger whole. That he’s only ever really been half a person, and the full person, the real him, wants to be all together again. Karma understands that. He _does_. _

_But Akabane Karma isn’t just a cover for this world, like Akabane Dabi is. He may not be a real person, but sometimes, when he’s with Nagisa and Kayano and Sugino and Okuda and his classmates and _Sensei_, he almost feels like he’s whole, like Karma has the right to exist on his own._

_He doesn’t want to disappear. _

* * *

“Shouto? Shouto, are you okay?” 

Shouto opens his eyes to see the bright light of Ritsu on his phone, looking at him with worry in her eyes. "Ritsu? Is everything okay?”

She nods. “Sorry for waking you, but you were crying in your sleep, which indicates that you were having a nightmare, and would want to be woken up.” 

“Thanks.” Shouto wipes at his eyes, tries to dry off his damp face and shirt, and searches his mind for what he could’ve dreamed about. It was right there, within his grasp, but it flitted out of reach when he reached for it. Whatever the dream was, it felt important. And although he didn’t know why, just thinking about it made him almost unbearably sad. 

“You still seem distressed,” Ritsu says. “Should I call one of your friends for you? They might be able to help better with nightmares than I can.”

“That’s not necessary. I don’t remember it anyways.” He doesn’t think it’s a nightmare, despite the tears. It feels more like a loss. “I’ll be fine.” (Even if a part of him feels like he won’t.) 

The door opens, and Midoriya peers in. “Um, Shouto? I heard you talking, I hope you don’t mind that I didn’t knock first.”

“No, it’s okay.” Shouto slips sideways out of bed, grabs Ritsu, and walks over. “What is it?”

Midoriya bites his lip. “It’s, ah, Tsuyu. She wants to talk to us, and Uraraka and Iida.” 

Shouto frowns, wondering what Tsuyu needs. She’s really sweet, and a good friend of theirs, but she’s been distancing herself from them since the training camp. Shouto hopes she’s okay, that he didn’t do anything to offend her. “Sure. Lead the way.”

They meet up with the other two on the first floor. Uraraka is relaxing on one of the couches, while Iida looks far more nervous.

“I can’t believe we’re going outside the dorm after curfew! Not just after curfew, but late into the morning hours! What was Tsuyu thinking?” He bemoans.

“Don’t worry, Iida,” Uraraka assures him. “This is Tsu we’re talking about. She wouldn’t ask this if she didn’t have a good reason. Besides, she’s been acting really down for the past few days, and I’m worried.” Uraraka perks up when she sees them come in. “Midoriya, Shouto! You’re here! Oh, and Ritsu!”

Ritsu waves. “Hello you two!”

“Is everything alright?” Iida looks at him closely. “You look as though you’ve had a rough night.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s go see what Tsuyu wants.”

They head outside the building, where Tsuyu is waiting for them. Her face is far from expressive, as usual, but something is clearly bothering her. 

Uraraka walks over and puts her hand on Tsuyu’s shoulder, reassuring her. “Is everything alright Tsu?”

Tsuyu looks away. “I’ve been thinking about this, for a while. It’s something I need to say, and I have to get everything out.” They all wait for her to collect her thoughts. “You didn’t know, Shouto, but when we were all at the hospital, I said-” She pauses. “Do you remember what I said?”

“Yeah.” Midoriya looks down. “That if we went around breaking the rules, we’d be no better than villains.” 

“I didn’t want to say those things, but I was so worried, I made myself say them in hopes that you wouldn’t go,” Tsuyu admits. She takes a deep breath.

“I knew I couldn’t stop the other class from going, but I thought I had stopped you from going, and when I saw the broadcast that morning I knew I was wrong.” Her voice is watery, like she’s about to cry. “I thought - I don’t know, but I was feeling all these bad feelings, and I didn’t know what to think.” She looks at Shouto, and tears are pouring from her eyes. “I felt like a bad friend, because in the end they helped you, and it was the right thing and they didn’t get in trouble, and I - I just-” The tears are coming down harder, and Uraraka hugs her. “I felt like I couldn’t have fun with you after that.”

“Tsu-” Now Uraraka is crying too. “Tsuyu, it’s okay! You’re still our friend, we don’t blame you, we love spending time with you! You don’t need to feel that way.”

“Uraraka is right!” Iida agrees quickly. “You were trying to keep us out of trouble, and we highly appreciate it! You are a very important friend to us!”

Midoriya is next. “Tsu, you can always have fun with us! We don’t hold it against you at all!” There are tears in his eyes as well. 

Tsuyu looks at him, her face wet. “I don’t blame you,” he tells her, and she sucks in a breath. “I appreciate that you were trying to keep our friends safe. You’re a good person, Tsuyu. I’m glad to be friends with you.”

Tsuyu is sobbing in earnest now, and Shouto finds himself pulled firmly into a group hug. Everyone is crying, and maybe he sheds a few tears, since they were so close to the surface after his dream, and no one mentions it. Clearly Tsuyu has had this weighing on her chest for a long time, and it’s finally been lifted off her. 

Shouto hopes things will be better for her from now on.

* * *

“Hero licenses?” Nagisa wonders, scrolling through the website.

“Yeah, apparently you need one to do work in the hero world.” Sugino peers over his shoulder, even though he’s already read all this. “They have big tests that only a small amount of people pass. It’s supposed to be really tricky.”

“Right, because who wants people without flashy quirks to be able to help others and get all the glory?” Kayano deadpans. She’s still a bit angry with Bakugou’s words. To be fair, they all are. It sounded far too close to what they heard from the other students as E Class. 

Isogai hums in thought. “Maybe we could take them?” Karma’s class is taking the exams, and we know we can keep up with them. It might be a good idea to get a license anyways, just in case we’re doing our own thing and someone from their world tries to penalize us for not having one.”

It’s a good idea. Not to mention it would keep them on the same playing field as Karma’s new class, and Nagisa knows they’ve all developed bonds with at least one person there. Tokoyami and Mei can be seen around Terasaka’s gang. Hinano goes on nature walks with a boy named Kota, who can speak to animals. Sugino keeps in touch regularly with Kaminari and Yaoyorozu. Nagisa himself has found he’s been enjoying Midoriya’s company nearly as much as he enjoys Karma’s.

They reveal their plan to Karasuma and Irina, who are quick to get on board. “This could help us keep in contact with the school, if you have licenses like them,” Karasuma muses. “Alright. But we’ll be taking it at a different time than 1-A. The date where the Yuuei kids are taking the exams are fully booked.

There’s a lot of groans, but also excitement buzzing in the air. True, their world has been merging with one of powers and superheroes for a while now, but getting their own licenses to be heroes really makes Nagisa feel like he’s a part of this really cool world, and not just watching on the sidelines.

He feels a twinge in his gut. Korosensei would be so proud of them right now, he knows. And maybe with this, they can help share all the lessons they’ve learned with the world earlier than planned.

* * *

Aizawa looks up. “You want to change your hero name?”

“Yes,” Shouto confirms. “Shouto was just a placeholder, because I couldn’t decide just yet what my name would be. I’ve figured it out now, and was hoping to change the name before we took our license exams.”

“I see.” His face doesn’t give away any thoughts he has. “And what do you want to change it to?”

In Shouto’s pocket is his phone, which not only connects him to Ritsu, but everyone who was formerly in E Class by extension. He still doesn’t know nearly enough about his time spent in the other world, but something has changed. 

Being called Karma felt so strange and wrong, like someone was trying to shove an unwelcome article of clothing on him, one that didn’t quite fit him. But now, somehow, it feels _right_. 

“I’d like for my hero name to be Karma,” he says. 

Aizawa raises an eyebrow, and looks at Shouto silently for a moment. Then he sighs. “Alright. This is your choice?”

“And no one else’s.”

“Then I’ll put it in.” He turns away. “Congratulations on picking your name, Karma.” 

He can’t see his phone, but Shouto can feel Ritsu beaming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so chapter seventeen comes to a close, and the licensing exam approaches! I hope you enjoyed a little look at what Karma was thinking during the later chapters of AssClass. Plus, Tsuyu gets some much needed comfort, and Shouto's hero name is official! Finally!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the read, and please leave a review, let me know what you enjoyed, and what ideas you have!


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